Copyright conundrum

#1

Hello Polybius here. If I upload a model of a toy figure that I have scanned in, can I sell it even though that actual toy is not my own creation? That toy was created by a company but my scan of it was created by me. So what’s the deal here?

#2

See knowone knows the answer to this, I think 3D selling websites are missing out on tonnes of business because a lot of their users do not know clearly exactly what they can and can’t sell, they’ve probably got 100’s of models they’d like to sell but refrain from doing so for fear of breaching copyright etc.

#3

I am not a copyright expert or know much about it, but from my personal experience I would say probably no
.
As an example:

  1. Few years ago Unity store didn’t accept my weapon models unless I would change them a bit/redesign, so they do not look too much like the real world weapons. And it was all because of the copyright.
  2. In a recent Spiderman game, they used 3D models of the well known buildings of the city, but some of them there missing. It was because few of the building owners didn’t allow them to use the designs in the game.
  3. Even though I drew a 2D design of a character from the South Park, a lot of t-shirt printing companies didn’t accept my drawing for print because of the copyright
  4. GTA5, they have very similar designs of cars from the real life, but they look a bit different and don’t have brand names

I could say, just do it the way Google does “It’s Easier To Ask Forgiveness Than To Get Permission”, but be careful because you don’t have billions of dollars for the lawsuits :smiley: