Free models for your work in Blender ain't so free...

General Forums Blender and CG Discussions
1

I noticed some forum members saying how they use free models from Archive3D.net in their Blender renders, so I did some research.

Looking at its Whois info Archive3D.net is run by two people from Russia and Tashkent, and provides no company or legal info. (They run a bunch of sites, all basically offering the same.) Searching the net for discussions about it, the sensible and cautious consensus seemed to be “if it looks too good to be true then it probably is”.

So I went to the3dstudio.com site to buy models legit, and guess what I find:

http://www.the3dstudio.com/product_details.aspx?id_product=271756

…here’s the ‘free’ version:

http://archive3d.net/?a=download&id=b730af09

To all those who make a living using Blender for archiviz and other 3D businesses, using such ‘free’ models in their commercial work, can they really do it with a clean conscience? And more to the point, without fear of legal repercussions?

2

If you are a Poser/DAZ user, the People and body parts category contains a lot of “familiar” items. Without any doubt, warez site :no:.

3

Thanks for the heads up.

4

actually if you do happen to get in trouble (warning america only) you can point the police to this site and if you have it in your history that this is where you downloaded it, then you wont get in trouble the company will. In fact you can sue them too because they have caused you to get in trouble.

5

Remember, in america, possession is 9/10ths of the law

6

Just before downloading from that site, you get this message:

			<i>1.  This 3D model is provided "as is", entirely at your own risk.
			2.  Archive3D.net doesn't  accept any claims regarding quality of 3D model or any standards conformity.
			3.  This model may be used in any commercial way only if it is a  part of artwork or project. Single reselling or redistribution of this  model is prohibited.
			4.  This model may be freely modificated or elaborated.

			Note: The models are provided in *.3DS and *.GSM formats. The basic  ways of use are 3D Visualisation, Interior Design, Architectural  Visualisation, Landscape Design, 3D Animation and 3D Art. 				</i>

So in fact I can’t be aware that this is illegal, so the company will have a problem I think.

7

Well, Blender is too good to be true to me. That old adage doesnt work with free, open-source, colaborative software.

Anyway, yep, pirating is all the rage in an amoral world that deny creators income for feeding perpetually hungry mouths…

8

actually if you do happen to get in trouble (warning america only) you can point the police to this site and if you have it in your history that this is where you downloaded it, then you wont get in trouble the company will. In fact you can sue them too because they have caused you to get in trouble.

I have Mozilla set to not record history, as I find it’s more incriminating than not.

9

Actually, copyright violations are a civil ‘crime’ so no police.

Unless you can send a few millions a year to the pols then you can have the FBI bust down a few doors for you.

Worst that will ever happen is some lawyer will send a cease & desist letter which you promptly take to your lawyer with the link to said website and get laughed at for your ‘defense’. Then you get a lecture about ‘due diligence’ and ‘ignorance of the law’ & etc…

Nice try though and thanks for playing IANAL.

10

…and then condemned to pay an sum which will make you broke for the rest of your life. Not all prisons have bars.

11

I very much doubt that you will be caught using an unpaid for model, as even if someone saw their model in an advert, they would be hard pressed for evidence that you downloaded it illegally.

I still wouldn’t go near that site though, for moral reasons more than anything.

12

Can you show the invoice for item? no? then you have stolen it (remember that you do not buy the item, you buy the right to use it as specified by the license, so even usage transfers are void unless explicitly authorized by the copyright holder).

I save on disk and also print and file all the invoices for anything that I buy, even single 1.99$ items; my motto is “better safe than sorry”.

13

I hope you were just joking in your post because keeping invoices for every single thing you buy is not normal and some would say verges on paranoia.

14

You’ve obviously never dealt with The Tax Man because expenses such as these are tax deductible assuming, of course, you keep the receipts.

…and, no, it isn’t paranoia because they really are out to get you.

15

I assume you’re talking about the US? So when you buy a 1.99$ candy bar or any other item of a similar price point, you need to keep the receipt because it’s tax deductible?

And who are they?

16

If you want to deduct anything you need to keep the receipt. period

So, yeah, if your candy bar is a valid deduction then you need to keep the receipt.

Oh, and ‘they’ are the ones with the guns who take your money from time to time because of some alleged ‘social contract’.

17

To avoid getting in any kind of trouble, I only use Turbosquid and Blendswap .

18

The world is full of paranoids because trusting people die young :evilgrin:.

To Uncle Entity: you forgot the best part: they can put you inside a very small place, full of bars and of highly sociable fellow inmates…

Bye!!!

P.S.: here in Italy you have to keep everything related to your tax returns for 10 years after the period of filing.

19

Well I just finished a CD where we used a sound from freesound, which turned out to to be CC-attribution-non-commercial. The uploader had links to his commercial sites where you can buy it for commercial use.

I downloaded it from iStock - then read their license agreement, which had a clause saying you can’t use sounds in musical works and still own the copyright on the song! Looked further, found the sound on another site with sensible licence agreement, paid the fee. Used the sound - all good.

Might seem paranoid for a little windchime sound. But I reckon if you do professional work, be a professional. Pay the dues.

Oh and keep the receipt :wink:

20

I obviously don’t have a good understanding of how taxes are collected in your country, but I fully support whatever keeps you out of jail and on blenderartists.org, so if you feel that hoarding all those grocery/convenience store receipts will make you file your taxes better then please go ahead.

Your description of “they” has me a bit worried about you, though :frowning: