Hi
So I am thinking of creating 3d car models for use in games etc. I know that i cant trademarks or brandnames but what else is offlimits?
For instance i have seen pictures of a nice bank of lights they are very distinctive can i model them and put on a car?
What about car shapes?
Dashboards?
What about car grills?
And wheel patterns??
Tyre treads?
steering wheels?
Thx for any input and advice
Also curious i see sites like turbosquid have named brand cars selling with editorial use only exactly who would have a use for such models?Just curious
AFAIK Turbosquid has an agreement with Ford, so they are allowed to sell 3D cars of the Ford brand. But on the other hand there is a trial running (was it BMW?) so it might get more difficult to get away with selling 3D representations of known brands. So far it simply has been a grey area.
Point is - if you want to be on the safe side, you shouldn´t copy existing designs. Or simply ask the according “owner” for permission. No one here can give you absolution.
I remember a long time ago i put a mazda mx5 on turbosquid, i sold a few of it, but it was taken down because of Mazda company was complaining about it… It’s a tad annoying…
I know that games like GTA(never played it) copy cars and just give them a different name and that’s a massive franchise .Its a good thing copyright law was not around when the wheel was invented just imagine…I am just waiting for progress to come to a grinding halt because noone can create anything due to everything been similar to something.
Depending on jurisdiction, copyright does not cover physical items, trademark only sometimes on very specific features. Most physical designs would fall under design patents in the US. Many (most?) items are not patented.
IIRC the EU was going to add copyright to physical items which WOULD make your idea against the law but AFAIK that has not happened yet.
So basically, go ahead and copy physical designs you see, but maybe check if they are patented. Do not use the brand names or logos - those are trademarks, you are not allowed to use them. To be on the safe side, do not copy easily recognizable, “iconic” design elements.
He cannot sell any design based on other’s IP; protection is automatic in this cases (copyright).
Patenting is just for additional safety.
The easy and legal way is to make his own designs.
You do realize that every car in existence borrows from every other car in existence right? Do you think that every car designer was born into a coma woke up one day and shouted eureka i have a wonderful idea designed a car in his ass open hospital gown then cried rivers of tears when finally he left the hospital to see that his genius bodawaga (that was what he called his invention as he was unaware of the "“car”) already existed and there were millions of them.
Copyright is becoming synonymos with monopoly these days and as Kemmler’s posts shows the big corporations who are the very entities who have benefited most from weaker copyright laws are the one campaigning hardest.
I talk about the law.
Your work is copyrighted, too. I really hate the childish approach related to IP rights some of the people share.
If you make a model, a plugin, whatever and someone makes money from stealing it (aka copying it), you will see it differently.
Design a ‘fantasy’ car and spend 30 times more time with it than copying a real one, than be happy when someone buys your model, remodel it in an hour and sell it with cutting your business.
I am curious Alma you use blender? It is pretty much a copy of a lot of paid products like max and maya its features are based on them.True blender isn’t been sold but how many people do you think max or maya etc dpn’yt make money on because blender exists? So is it right that blender have features that these other programes have features that they did not first invent but copied ?
You are also entirely missing the point a 3d model of a car even a 100 percent faithful copy does not impact the sales of the actual copied car unless you think someone can use my 3d car to drive around the place?
Blender however absolutely costs paid products like max maya money
Sorry, maybe it is my language skills, but I was not able to understand what you wanna say.
Anyway: you cannot sell 3d models of existing cars without permission of the IP holder. You could have a debate about it, you could dislike it, but currently that is the law. Accept it.
Same applies for any stuff designed, made by others from furniture to Star Wars figures.
Be creative, make your own stuff and sell that.
No. I’m saying that most of the 3d car sellers has no license to sell the models. It is possible to get license for that and they do not laugh or charge necessarily; you will get a 10 page contract and you have to do that by their rules (I contacted car manufacturers related to this).
So yes, most of the 3d car modelers do illegal stuff, trying to cover themselves with ‘editorial’ license which pretty much means that you cannot use the model for anything without additional permission.
To be honest I’m getting tired with this conversation as it seems you do not want to accept the law; consult with your lawyer and you will get the same information.
And as i said you have completely missed the point .The main question was can i use something i like (the lights i mentioned) on a model i design that is based on but not identical to a existing car shape.(it would be near impossible to actually design a car that does not look like some existing car because, not to be racist but most cars do look alike)
You could use while it is not ‘too close’ to the original. What ‘close’ is will be decided by the court if it goes there (probably won’t; car manufacturers go after huge money like TurboSquid or successful games, etc.).
You made a complete list, you got the answer. Parts are protected, too. Make your own designs, that is much more fun and learning.
Lucky for me i am a bad modeler so i can safely try to model the exact replica of something because by the time i am done it looks nothing like the original:)
