Well after a little bout on Facebook about licensing, I looked into it more and it seems that the license I did have, expired when we closed the one site down that the license was attached to. So now, they have a new licensing practice going on that is honestly better for what I want to do.
The overall goal is to be able to print and sell infantry, or perhaps even just sell the STLS so people can print them how they want. For now what I will be doing is getting licenses for each of the products I use on a model. This type of licensing is actually very affordable and allows me to print and sell the models I make which is perfect.
The vehicles I am making are not affected, they’re mine and all mine with very few exceptions and I will make that known when they come up for sale. Additionally and models I do sell in digital or physical form will be marked with my logo on the underside. This will help to differentiate between my work and some one else’s that I am allowed to sell.
To also clear something up, I do from time to time commission people to make models for me especially if I need them for someone and work interferes with me making the model. It’s not that I can’t make the model, it’s just I don’t have the time to do it. If available, these models will be marked on the underside with the creators logo and in the product description I will inform you whether or not this is my creation or someone else’s.
One more thing I want to address, models from games called “game rips”. I don’t know a lot about them but apparently models can be ripped from video games. I found one and looked it over, it’s very rough, low poly, and would never be able to be printed without an excessive amount of work that basically means I could just create the model myself as it would be faster. I don’t the ins and outs of how the models get pulled from the games, I looked at the one game I have “Battlefield 2142” and I was able to locate the files for the models but they are not in a format I can’t use so there must be programs out there for doing that. I can assure you that any models I offer for sale are either created by me or created for me, but they are not ripped from any games. The models I’ve seen from games, in their raw formats derive a lot of their form from the texture maps to give the impression of detail when needed.
Finally, when someone sets out to make a model of something that exists… let’s say an SU-25 Frogfoot. No matter who makes it, if it’s well made, it’s going to to look like the real thing or as close as possible to it. That being said if you take 12 skilled designers and lock them in a room and tell them to make an SU-25 Frogfoot, they’re all going to look very much the same. One person might make it with the flaps down, another with the canopy open, one with bombs, one with missiles but they will all look like SU-25 Frogfoots and very very similar to one another. It’s not copying someone else’s work, it’s the fact the Frogfoot exists and to model it correctly can’t help but avoid making it look similar to so-and-so’s model of the same aircraft. So don’t get bent out of shape saying someone is copying someone else’s work just because it looks like a Frogfoot and Joe Blow made a Frogfoot and they look the same.
While I got booted from the Facebook group for whatever reason, they never told me, I can only assume because the one person who was badgering me said some shit to an admin and yeah. In any event, the outcome has helped me clear up some more information on licensing and printing rights so hopefully over the course of the next few days I can get some more prints finished posted up here and on Facebook, and wherever else my posts get sent in the interwebs. I do hope this clears things up some and we can move forward.
And with that folks, I am off to get some rest, just getting home and settled in after a couple of overnight shifts,