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moly_moly
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Use for commercial purpose

Is the models used here can be used for commercial purposes? http://www.sweethome3d.com/freeModels.jsp Do I need to provide a reference to the author?
[Nov 30, 2014, 1:43:36 PM] Show Printable Version of Post    View Member Profile    Send Private Message [Link] Report threatening or abusive post: please login first  Go to top 
okh
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Re: Use for commercial purpose

It says on the page ".. as long as you respect their Free Art license or Creative Commons Attribution ...". You must check the license for each model (and double-check any license in the model file). Still it is common courtesy to credit the creator, especially in a commercial context and when the creator has provided his work for free. You may also want to share your usage with the creator. ok
[Nov 30, 2014, 6:35:22 PM] Show Printable Version of Post    View Member Profile    Send Private Message [Link] Report threatening or abusive post: please login first  Go to top 
Puybaret
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Re: Use for commercial purpose

As explained in the license page, the licenses under which all the models are distributed in the free models page let you use them for commercial purpose and I check it's the case for each one.
Crediting their author is a requirement, but when you mix many different models in a same project, I don't know which convenient option would be admitted (I don't speak here of the redistribution of 3D models individually or in libraries):
- building a list containing all the authors cited in the free models page and add it to documents presenting the project even if you don't use all of them,
- adding a mention with an URL to the free models page in documents presenting the project,
- listing only the authors of the models used in the project.

What do you think okh?
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Emmanuel Puybaret, Sweet Home 3D developer
[Dec 1, 2014, 6:54:54 PM] Show Printable Version of Post    View Member Profile    Send Private Message [Link] Report threatening or abusive post: please login first  Go to top 
okh
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Re: Use for commercial purpose

I was afraid you would ask for more concrete advice smile I propose the following short answer: SH3D is built on the use of liberal licensing that will give users a lot of freedom, also for commercial use including models. But as the user is ultimately responsible for license compliance, the user (especially a commercial one) should check the terms against the actual usage. The FAL and CC pages will supply instructions on appropriate attribution. For example, if the model is CC BY 3.0, see the attribution terms with links (appropriate credit and indicate if changes were made). If in doubt, consult creator.

That, of course, is a pretty useless answer - if to be expected from a legal point of view. And for limited commercial use, well, as long as caution is exercised, using the models is unlikely to create problems.

But, as the world of intellectual property can be pretty unforgiving (and in my opinion, too unforgiving), you may want to ponder the following. These are not recommandations, just loose thoughts:

Commercial usage can be many things. Take a couple of extremes:
- Major, international manufacturer wants to build a new furniture range on one of the models.
- Models used in an animation sequence in The Force Awakens.
- Commercial 3D architecture software wants to include (all) models from SH3D free models page in their own € 10 000 software package.
- A multi-million design enterprise uses one specific model as a centrepiece in all international presentations with only hard-to-find information about the origin.
Far fetched, maybe, but these examples could put the most liberal of licenses to the test, and national and international law could even set the license aside. In short, common courtesy dictates that the user would be silly not to consult the creator in such cases. Expect a judge to say: "But why on earth didn't you just ask?"

A more normal example, an interior decorator wanting to show a paying client how his home should look, is more within the scope of commercial usage as I interpret the SH3D and models licensing regime. But, still, check the licenses: FAL and CC and decide how best to comply.

With license compliance ultimately being the responsibility of the (commercial) user, exact advice on how to comply is therefore almost impossible, not least because there may be (local) legal nuances.

But to mention a possibility: the name of the models used could be amended to include attribution requirements, e.g: Sofabed, eTeks, CC BY 3.0, unchanged (link may be required). Then the information would be available to everyone who opens the SH3D file, and a furniture list could be extracted to accompany print material, photo/video rendering and 3D webviewer presentations.

How to do this conveniently with many models, is an interesting question, and I have no idea whether the "shortcuts" proposed have been tested legally. But I should add, that because of the caution displayed on the models submission page, the model creator has already accepted liberal use of models. And the creator can add attribution information in the file name. This is even more true where a model is submitted as a library, where the creator relatively easily can supply customised information in the properties (see thread 1550 for using information property in 4.5). By doing this, the creator contributes to how attribution should be available.

A couple of more points to complicate things further:
- There may be models on the SH3D free models page that bear a resemblance to designs subject to some sort of intellectual property protection. So if you are really unlucky, you may get some designer coming after you (and the poor model creator).
- Some models could well be so generic and simplistic, that they may not be subject to any sort of copyright protection.

I could go on, but this just to explain why I generally prefer making my own models and textures for online use. And when I share models, I make sure they are sufficiently generic so no third party can claim any rights. But then - I am being very careful.

ok
[Dec 2, 2014, 11:29:58 AM] Show Printable Version of Post    View Member Profile    Send Private Message [Link] Report threatening or abusive post: please login first  Go to top 
Puybaret
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Re: Use for commercial purpose

Thanks for your useful post okh smile

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of adding a mention similar to the following one (including the links) to documents presenting a project made with Sweet Home 3D:

Project designed with Sweet Home 3D. Includes 3D models distributed under a free license.

The good thing with providing a link to the free models is that people can identify each model if necessary to find its author and license.
Of course, if the designer included 3D models coming from other web sites, it will be up to him to adapt the previous note.
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Emmanuel Puybaret, Sweet Home 3D developer
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[Edit 1 times, last edit by Puybaret at Dec 2, 2014, 2:29:09 PM]
[Dec 2, 2014, 2:06:28 PM] Show Printable Version of Post    View Member Profile    Send Private Message [Link] Report threatening or abusive post: please login first  Go to top 
Puybaret
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Re: Use for commercial purpose

I just updated information shown in License page from this discussion.
It's longer now but I hope it will answer to the licensing issues that were recently encountered.
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Emmanuel Puybaret, Sweet Home 3D developer
[Mar 6, 2015, 10:58:02 AM] Show Printable Version of Post    View Member Profile    Send Private Message [Link] Report threatening or abusive post: please login first  Go to top 
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