Just a question more out of curiosity than anything else.
I often download (free and paid) 3D models/assets from the many resources we have available, however there is so much good stuff that is not in a native blend format that requires sometimes quite a bit of work to modify textures, scales and orientation for example before they can be used within Blender.
If the seller of these products does not support the Blender format, what is considered to be a reasonable modification to their file for me to be able to resell their product purely as a blend file without infringing on copyright and licensing.
Obviously my first preference is to make an arrangement with the original artist, but if they do not reply, are uninterested or flatly refuse the resale, where do I stand morally and legally?
Its weird to call it a “preference” to make an arrangement with the original artist. Its the legally (and morally) correct thing to do. You can’t just rewrap stuff other people made and resell it no matter how much work you put into it.
The original assets come with licenses, simply read them and follow them.
Absolutely didn’t intend to sound like a simple rewrap and sell question. My first consideration is morally rather than legally as I would hate to have that happen to my work.
At some point though, both legally and morally, there is a level of modification of the original work that renders it no longer an original work. If I model a brick house exterior and someone chooses to “rewrap” it (as you say) with timber or moves the windows and doors a few inches (or many inches), I can accept it is no longer my original work. To say that “no matter how much work you put into it” is insane as everything we create is a variation of what someone else has created before us