Yes, we did. An Etsy listing for that model was reported. It was mistaken for our T-Rex model, even though they were both dinosaurs heads with claws that could be used as holders, the two designs do look different, and this was an error that definitely could have been avoided. We sincerely apologize to you, Ivan, for the mistake we made, and yes, we wish to compensate Ivan for the sales he lost in that period.

We were informed by a subscriber that one of our models was being illegally sold on Etsy, the customer support team member that got the ticket did not realise that the models were not the same, and reported. Which was a mistake.

Ivan rightfully countered, we have gone into Etsy's support chat and requested a formal withdrawal of the complaint and it was removed.

>You can check all the documents for this answer by clicking here.<

Nope, STLFLIX's T-Rex is a model that was launched almost one year before Ivan’s model, as you can see in the following posts:

- STLFLIX T-Rex release date was September 13th, 2022 you can see in this Instagram post.

- Ivan's T-Rex release date was August 23rd, 2023, as you can see in this post.

That doesn't justify the notice, as mentioned in the previous answer, but it is important to clarify it.

I’d like to point out that we started STLFLIX as small creators, and we are creators ourselves. Like everyone else, we began as a small venture, and fortunately, we managed to grow. We also collaborate with many small creators, such as @boxskull3D, @angeljacobofigueroa, @manabun_lab, @holoprops, @3dprintbunny, and many others, so we have absolutely no reason to attack, harm, or bully small creators.

Some people have said we aim to force small creators out of the market through takedown notices. The fact is, Ivan has 125 models on Etsy, 306 models on Cults, a Patreon subscription, and also a Thangs subscription. He had one model reported on a single platform, and when he got in touch with us, we immediately stated that we did not believe his model was infringing, and acted to remove the claim.

Apart from that mistaken report, at no time was he asked, advised, or even hinted at removing his listings, stopping sales, or anything along those lines. It was purely an erroneous report through Etsy, and nowhere else.

From a business standpoint, filing takedown notices against creators makes no sense. Once they’re notified, creators can respond, and by providing their design files or other proof, Etsy will reinstate the listing. Such a “strategy” would achieve nothing.

In short, there was indeed a mistake in reporting the model. However, it was an isolated incident, and it’s a far cry from any kind of strategy to bully or harm smaller creators, as some have claimed.

As a token of transparency we made a video going through 6 months of Etsy listings show that we are not doing what's been claimed

Ivan has accused us of stealing his designs, specifically claiming in an email that we took his wind-up motor collection. However, this is not true, let's check the facts:

Public Release Dates: Ivan’s collection was posted on his Instagram on October 25th.
We released ours on August 9th in this Instagram post, 77 days before his.

Our Inspiration: To see if Ivan had published his models earlier on Patreon (which isn’t public for non-subscribers), we subscribed and discovered he had, in fact, released them on June 13th.

STLFLIX models take around 3 months to be developed. We were inspired by this video TikTok video from April 2024, which predates both releases by a considerable margin.

Crochet Collection: We launched a crochet-themed collection that in no way resembles Ivan’s three existing models.
11th of August, 2 days after our release, Ivan also introduced a knitted penguin design; however, since ours was already out, it could not have been copied or stolen from him.

Wind-Up Motor: The only common element between our project’s and Ivan’s is the wind-up motor itself, which Ivan did not invent. This type of motor has been widely used in similar toys for a long time. And it's available in Aliexpress for everybody to purchase and make their own versions.
It’s impossible to say we stole his idea since the concept existed long before either of us released our models—our TikTok source is just one clear example.

Penguin Crochet: Ivan stated that we copied his crochet penguin, because he made a crochet penguin ornament before us.
The models are different and have different applications. We created a wind-motor toy, and he created an ornament or cookie jar.
The crochet trend was widely explored in the 3D printing model before. Just like we don't own the T-Rex head, Ivan doesn't own the crochet penguin, on Cults3D alone there are several different crochet penguin designs available. The others creators can't be accused of stealing his model or idea, like we can't.

In the same vein, it would be just as unfounded to claim Ivan stole from the TikTok creator, or that he took our T-Rex head with claws holder idea, just because he created a T-Rex head with claws holder as we have done before him. In these situations, double standards are being applied.

Therefore, the accusation that we stole his models is entirely baseless.

> You can check the post dates in this folder<

Recently, Ivan made another post, claiming that we offered 50 dollars as compensation for the sales lost. We did, in fact, send him an apology, and it was heartfelt. We never intended to make that mistake in the first place. We also asked him to remove the post because he was publicly accusing us of stealing his models, which simply isn’t true. The fact that we made a mistake with him does not give him the right to make false statements about us.

Regarding the alleged fifty-dollar compensation, we never made that offer to Ivan. Right after our initial apology email, we said we’d cover any potential lost sales in full, and we never stated a specific amount. The claim that we proposed fifty dollars is therefore incorrect. The confusion seems to stem from a conversation we had with a moderator close to Ivan, where we casually estimated that he might have lost around fifty dollars in sales. That was never intended as a formal offer. In our direct email to Ivan, which he later responded to, we clearly said we would compensate him for the sales he lost.

The fifty-dollar estimate came from the analysis we did using the EtsyHunt tool where we can track the sales of every item. On the best week Ivan sold 22 T-Rex models, which would be roughly 3 models a day, totaling 10.50 a day in revenue. But that was not an offer, it was a guess on a private conversation with a group moderator, not Ivan. The graphs are in the folder below.

We also went on Etsy chat to ensure that nothing would happen to Ivan's store following the claim.

>In this folder, you can find the emails exchanged, Ivan's post and our conversation with Etsy<

Our community is constantly giving us ideas of things they wish to see on our platform. For that reason, we created a contest where our subscribers would suggest ideas of models they wish to see, and the community would vote on these ideas as you can see on the Dropping Ideas page. Our subscribers sent the images, and they are a mere reference to what they were talking about. Our design team will execute the winning ideas. That's it. At no point does this mean we’re copying any existing model.

It wouldn’t make sense for our subscribers to ask us to copy a model that’s already out there. If someone wants a particular design that already exists, either we contact the artist who created the model to try to license the model, as we have done with multiple times with multiple creators, or we simply tell them they can buy that design from its original creator. It’s unfair to say we’re stealing from other creators just because subscribers submit suggestions. All creators receive suggestions like this. Receiving ideas doesn’t automatically turn anyone into a criminal, as we’ve been publicly accused.

However, as a response, we removed the images sent by the community members and left just the ideas.

> Images from the contest, and before and after of the page <

The real bullies in this story are the people who illegally sell models they haven't created, I'm pretty sure that every creator out there has already been in that position and every maker from our community has already been presented with an offer from a fake website or a non-authorized listing of a model. It's the same for us.

Our files have been copied and illegally distributed many times before, I'm pretty convinced that you might've seen it. Even Joel made a video recently about piracy in the 3D printing space. The intention was to protect our own work, something that we have rights to, and so do Ivan and many other creators. They suffer from them same problems we do. Again, there was a misjudgment and a mistake that we are genuinely sorry about, but the point of filing a claim is not to cause harm. It is to prevent people from harming your work.

As mentioned earlier, we made a mistake and want to use this opportunity to improve as a company. To address this, we are implementing a new process:

Review copyright claim process: We are conducting a full review of our model reporting process to ensure that each claim is evaluated by Bruno and Lincoln before being issued, the two founders of STLFLIX. Because something so serious needs to be decided by those who know the company's models the most.

Ivan has not commented on the compensation for the lost sales resulting from the mistakenly reported model. Nonetheless, we would like to take this opportunity to extend an official apology to the community.

As a gesture of goodwill, we will be making a donation of 100 STLFLIX filaments spools of PLA to the group’s administrators, who will use them to produce toys for donation to hospitals.