Abstract
This article outlines how the US and EU managed, both ex-ante and ex-post, the risks posed by the additive manufacturing initiatives, often led by fab labs, to supply local healthcare facilities with anti-Covid-19 devices. Both legal systems have tried to reconcile the aim of expanding the productive capacity and the need for ensuring product safety. From an ex-post perspective, while the US have been relying on an ad hoc indemnification system, civil liability regimes have not been waived in the EU. Although these latter seem to offer a certain degree of flexibility in emergencies, this article raises the question if innovative legal solutions (e.g., indemnification funds) could better reconcile the protection of injured parties and the promotion of production. It is also suggested that, also in non-emergency situations, contract law may provide tools to better allocate liability risks in the uneven context of the 3D printing "value constellation".