How can I protect my addon code from scammers?

So if just give them my add-on, without blend file, is that okay? Because they probably already have those meshes. All of them…

Yes. As long as you don’t distribute any content that you do not have the rights to you’ll be ok, unless the purpose of the add-on is illegal itself (like if it’s built to rip content from a game).

No no no… It’s just for preview use. It doesn’t export or import something. User just load a .png image and this image applied on to those meshes. Just to see how it looks and if .png texture is right.

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And all this was mostly a practice for me, so to have a subject to work on.

I don’t think anyone here has accused you of being a scammer. Answering these questions was important for us to better understand what your project is.

If you create a Blender add-on, just know that its source code will have to be published under the GPL license (or compatible).

FYI, the GPL license allows anyone to legally read, re-use, fork, modify, share and even (re)sell the source code at anytime without even asking for permission. Also, the developer of a GPL program (software, add-on) must provide the license and give access to the source code to the user.

Blender and Blender add-ons are FOSS.

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I see… I’ll keep all this in mind… Thank you for your answer!!!

So, they remove all attribution and license references? I see how this is a problem and it certainly doesn’t feel right. There is some official information on common licensing issues on blender.org:


Sharing or selling Blender add-ons (Python scripts)

Blender’s Python API is an integral part of the software, used to define the user interface or develop tools for example. The GNU GPL license therefore requires that such scripts (if published) are being shared under a GPL compatible license. You are free to sell such scripts, but the sales then is restricted to the download service itself. Your customers will receive the script under the same license (GPL), with the same free conditions as everyone has for Blender.

Sharing Blender or Blender add-ons or scripts is always OK and not considered piracy.


Whoever is selling your stuff is probably violating the above terms. Maybe you could take legal action (and actually there are people trying to do just that (e.g. https://gpl-violations.org/)) but I guess chances are slim and it will probably not be worth the effort (and your time).

However, if there is such huge demand for your tools and people are actually willing to pay money for it, spreading the word and making your free solution more visible to the public might be the better approach. This way you could help the gaming community, promote your tools and kill the “pirate’s” business model, all at once. :slight_smile:

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I’ll keep all this in mind!!! Thank you very much for your answer and you time!!!

You mean getting a commercial Blender add-on from someone else for free is ok?

If the add-on is purely composed of Python files, then yes, you can legally download it, even if it’s a commercial add-on. You can ask someone who already has it to give it to you (or you can download it from somewhere else…). It’s perfectly allowed by the GPL license.

But note that the license only applies to the source code. If the commercial add-on contain art assets or other proprietary code, in this case, downloading the whole add-on would be considered piracy.

The code of Blender add-ons is always free. When someone buys a commercial add-on, he/she doesn’t pay for the software itself, but for the download service (and often, developers invite Blender users to buy their add-ons to support them, to get usage help and to get a higher chance to get add-ons updates).

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I see, that’s good to know, thanks!

It is unavoidable, at some point “hosters” or “scammers” can exploit other’s people work. Impossible to prevent such things.

No more no less if you search now on eBay you would find even Blender being selled for 10-30 bucks or so. Isn’t that insane?