Terms of Use & Privacy Policy - Change Log

Lounge
#1

January 17, 2018

With the introduction of the Sketchfab store on January 17, 2018, we made the following changes to our terms:

  • For all the contributors/users, so including the sellers: Change of the Terms of Use. In the context of the Store, the Terms of Use frame the relationship between Sketchfab and the sellers.
  • For the buyers: We added a License Agreement. In the context of the Store, the License Agreement frames the relationship between Sketchfab and the buyers.

Changes to Terms of Use

We made minor changes to the clauses in section 4.1 and 4.2, and added the following clause to cover paid downloads:

4.2.3 Use by others for a price. Subject always to our prior consent, you may also elect to make your User Content available to other users for download for a price. In such event, you grant us the right to grant other users a nonexclusive, nonsublicensable, and nontransferable, perpetual, worldwide right to use your User Content for the purposes and under the conditions detailed in our user license agreement. For the different types of licenses and details thereof, please see our License Agreement. Each such license is subject to payment of a license fee by the other users (whether one-time or subscription based) in accordance with our end user price list and Sketchfab is entitled to a commission thereon in accordance with our contributor price list, which we may update from time to time in our sole discretion.

This paragraph is essentially stating "you may also elect to make your User Content available to other users for download for a price”.

New: License Agreement

In addition to the general Terms of Use, we also introduced a License Agreement to cover the relationship between you and the seller

Summary:

Contributors grants Sketchfab a sublicensable license on their models, and Sketchfab then sell licenses to buyer on the Store. The purpose of this license agreement is frame the relationship between Sketchfab and buyers. The purpose of the update of our terms and conditions frames the relationship between contributors and Sketchfab (see our Terms of Use).

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#2
#3

A post was split to a new topic: How can I publish my 3D scanning service?

#4

March 20, 2018

With the introduction of the Download API on March 20, 2018, we made the following changes to our terms:

  • For all the contributors/users, change of the Terms of Use, article 4.2.4, which governs access to downloadable content through the download API.
  • For app developers, changes of the Sketchfab API Agreement, articles 4.5 and 4.6, which govern how you provide access to Sketchfab content through the download API.

Changes to Terms of Use

4.2.4 Download API. Users who make their User Content available to other Users under Articles 4.2.2 and 4.2.3 of these Terms acknowledge and accept that their Content (i) may be made available and (ii) can be downloaded from a third party application or website, through the download API operated by Sketchfab. For the avoidance of doubt, said Users specifically grant to Sketchfab a license over their User Content covering all use related to the development, distribution, provision, improvement and promotion of the download API operated by Sketchfab.

If you make your Sketchfab models downloadable, you agree that these models can also be downloaded through the Download API.

Users accessing and downloading User Content through the download API operated by Sketchfab shall be authenticated and it is expressly agreed that: (i) the use of the download API is governed by these Terms and each User’s plan; and (ii) the authenticated User accessing and downloading the User Content shall be responsible for complying with the terms of the license governing said User Content.

If you access Sketchfab content through the Download API, you will respect the license that this content was published under.

Changes to Sketchfab API Agreement

4.5 If you are a third party application implementing our download API, your app should clearly mention that downloadable models are provided by Sketchfab. You can find the Sketchfab logo in our Press Kit (sketchfab.com/press).

Clearly state that this content originates from Sketchfab.

4.6 The use of the Sketchfab download API requires the end user to be authenticated to the service using a Sketchfab account. If you are a third party application implementing our download API, it means the end-user must be able to log in with their Sketchfab account inside your application.

Require users to log in with their Sketchfab account before downloading, and allow them to sign in from within your app.

#5

April 18, 2018

We made the following changes to our Terms of Use. One specific area this will be applied is the removal of links to other marketplaces.

4.5 Right to Monitor, Moderate or Remove. You agree that you bear all risks associated with your User Content. You are solely responsible for safeguarding your User Content, and Sketchfab has no duty to store copies of User Content for future availability to you or any user except as otherwise provided under this Agreement. Sketchfab does not permit the infringement of intellectual property rights on the Services, and will remove User Content from the Services if properly notified that such User Content infringes on another’s intellectual property rights. We reserve the right to remove User Content from the Services, in whole or in part, without prior notice, for any reason or for no reason at all. Without limiting our right to terminate a User pursuant to Section 8 of this Agreement, we reserve the right to terminate the account of any User of the Services who has been notified of infringing activity more than twice and/or has had User Content removed from the Service more than twice. We also reserve the right to decide whether User Content is appropriate and complies with this Agreement for violations other than violations of intellectual property law. This shall extend to the right of Sketchfab to edit, modify, moderate, re-format, change or otherwise remove all or part of the descriptions, comments and/or annotations that You and/or third parties add and/or make in relation to your User Content, in any manner that We may determine, whenever We deem it appropriate.

Website Change Log
#6

May 15, 2018

We made the following addition to Section 4.3 of our Terms of Use (change in italics). This addition protects buyers by giving them the right to use any Sketchfab products they purchased royalty-free and credit-free.

4.3 User Representations. By submitting User Content, you represent and warrant that (i) you own or otherwise control all of the rights to your User Content, (ii) the use of your User Content does not violate this Agreement or the law, and will not violate any rights of or cause injury to any person or entity, and (iii) your User Content will not violate the additional content restrictions set forth in Section 5 of this Agreement and that (iv) to the greatest extent permitted by law, You hereby irrevocably and unconditionally waive any and all moral rights whatsoever, or any rights of a similar nature, in your User Content, for the benefit of or in favor of Sketchfab, including any right to be associated with your User Content (right of paternity) or any right to restrict or prevent the modification or use of your User Content in any manner whatsoever (right of integrity). To the extent You retain any such moral rights under applicable law, You hereby agree not to assert them against Sketchfab or other Sketchfab users in any manner whatsoever.

Website Change Log
#7

June 5, 2018

We made the following addition to Section 5. User Restrictions and Obligations:

Use of Sketchfab within advertisements or advertiser-supported content requires the license of an Enterprise account and express consent by Sketchfab for which you may contact enterprise@sketchfab.com

#8

July 11, 2018

We have made filing a DMCA takedown notice a little easier by adding a link to a form that takes you through the entire process. Of course you can still submit a DMCA request without using the form as well.

7. Intellectual Property Claims
[…]
In the event you believe that any User Content on the Services infringes your copyright, please file a notice of infringement using this form or with our designated agent:

#9

October 1, 2018

We have added a clarification about the intended use of our BASIC/PRO and PRO+ plans:

5. User Restrictions and Obligations
[…]
Our BASIC plan is for hobbyists and non-commercial use; our PRO plan is for individuals. Companies using our services are required to subscribe to our Premium plan or above. If your are a legal entity using Sketchfab, and your annual gross revenues or total funding exceeds US $100,000 you may not use our BASIC or PRO plans.

This text has also been added to our Plans overview page.

#10

October 9, 2018

We added the words in bold:

4.2.1 Use by us. By using the Services, you grant Sketchfab a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, sub-licensable (through multiple tiers) right and license to use, reproduce, publicly display, distribute and adapt the publicly shared User Content for the purposes of developing, distributing, providing, improving, and promoting the Services, our activities and your publicly shared User Content. You further grant Sketchfab the right to use your name and trademarks, if any, in connection with our use of your publicly shared User Content.

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#11

June 30, 2021

This change is a major restructuring and rewrite of the [Terms of Use](https://sketchfab.com/terms) and [Privacy Policy](https://sketchfab.com/privacy). It is not feasible to include every single text change here, so we encourage you to take a look at those links if you are interested in the full documents.

Here, we have listed the major changes and additions.

The minimum age to use Sketchfab without parental/guardian consent has increased from 13 years to 16 years.

Terms of Use:

**1.4 Minors.** THE SERVICES ARE NOT INTENDED FOR CHILDREN UNDER 16, and persons under the age of 16 are prohibited from registering with or using the Services. You represent and warrant that you are more than 18 years of age or, if you are at least 16 and below 18 years of age, you are an emancipated minor, or possess legal parental or guardian consent, and are fully able and competent to abide by and comply with the terms, conditions, obligations, affirmations, representations, and warranties set forth in this Agreement. This provision is void where prohibited by law and the right to access the Services is revoked in such jurisdictions.

Privacy Policy:

**Children Privacy Rules**

Our Services are not intended for persons under the age of 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal data directly from children under the age of 16. If you have reason to believe that a person under the age of 16 has provided personal data to us, please contact us at privacy@sketchfab.com, and we will make every effort to answer your queries and immediately delete that information from our databases.

A section has been added to the Privacy Policy related to California Privacy Rights.

View this section here.

The list of cookies we use on the website has been updated in the Privacy Policy.

View this section here.

Sections related to GDPR and transfers of Personal Data within and outside the European Economic Area have been updated.

A section has been added to the Terms of Use related to International Data Processing.

View this section here.

A section has been added to the Terms of Use related to Arbitration.

View this section here.

#12

July 21, 2021

We added or edited the words in bold:

By registering with us, or by using the Services, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use (the "Agreement,") which we may update from time to time. Your continued use of the Services (or any User Content downloaded from the Services) constitutes your consent to such changes. PLEASE READ THIS AGREEMENT CAREFULLY AND CHECK THESE TERMS OF USE PERIODICALLY FOR CHANGES. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS OF USE, YOU MAY NOT USE THE SERVICES.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES IS SUBJECT TO AN ARBITRATION PROVISION IN SECTION 11, REQUIRING ALL CLAIMS TO BE RESOLVED VIA BINDING ARBITRATION, AND A WAIVER OF THE RIGHT TO BRING OR JOIN CLASS ACTIONS.
3.3. Service and Content License. We grant you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-sublicensable and non-transferable license to use the Services as they are provided to you by us, only as set forth in this Agreement. Except as expressly permitted in this Agreement, you may not reproduce, distribute, adapt, modify, translate, create derivative works from, publish or otherwise use any portion of the Services or Sketchfab Content for any purpose without express prior written permission from us or the applicable rights holder. Any commercial exploitation of the Services or Sketchfab Content without express prior written permission from us or the applicable rights holder is strictly prohibited.
4.1 Generally. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any User Content you submit to the Services complies with any applicable laws and third party rights, including but not limited to any intellectual property, privacy, and publicity, rights and laws, and that all required notices have been provided to, and required consents and releases have been obtained from, individuals who are the subject of, or owners of, any User Content. Sketchfab always has the right, in its sole discretion, to review User Content in advance for quality and technical purposes, and to accept or reject any given User Content in its sole discretion. You agree that your use of any User Content downloaded from the Services will always be subject to the most-current version of the License Agreement or Creative Commons license, as applicable (additional details of which are provided below); accordingly, you agree that your continued use of any such User Content constitutes your acceptance of the terms of any new version of the License Agreement or Creative Commons license, applicable to such User Content, as we may update from time to time.
4.2.1 Use by us. By using the Services, you grant Sketchfab a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, fully paid-up, perpetual, irrevocable, sub-licensable (through multiple tiers) right and license to use, reproduce, publicly display, distribute, adapt, create derivative works of and otherwise exploit User Content for any and all purposes, including, without limitation, the purposes of providing, developing and improving the Services; provided that to the extent User Content includes personal data, we shall not use such personal data for any purpose other than providing the Services and as further set forth in our Privacy Policy at https://sketchfab.com/privacy. You further grant Sketchfab the right to use your name and trademarks, if any, in connection with our use of your publicly shared User Content for the purposes set forth in this Section 4.2.1.
4.2.3 Use by others for a fee. Subject always to these Terms of Use, you may also elect to make your User Content available to other users for download for a fee. In such event, you will grant other users a license to use your User Content for the purposes and under the conditions detailed in the License Agreement. For the different types of licenses and details thereof, please see the License Agreement. Each such license is subject to payment of a license fee by the other users (whether one-time or subscription based), and Sketchfab is entitled to a commission thereon, at the then-current rates detailed here. You acknowledge and agree that Sketchfab and its parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, co-venturers and licensed affiliates are intended third-party beneficiaries of the License Agreement.
4.2.4 Download API. Users who make their User Content available to other Users under Articles 4.2.2 and 4.2.3 of these Terms acknowledge and accept that their Content (i) may be made available and (ii) can be downloaded from a third party application or website, through the download API operated by Sketchfab. For the avoidance of doubt, said Users specifically grant to Sketchfab a license over their User Content covering all use related to the development, distribution, provision, improvement and promotion of the download API operated by Sketchfab. Users accessing and downloading User Content through the download API operated by Sketchfab shall be authenticated and it is expressly agreed that: (i) the use of the download API is governed by these Terms and each User's plan; and (ii) the authenticated User accessing and downloading the User Content shall be responsible for complying with the terms of the license governing said User Content.
4.5 Right to Monitor, Moderate or Remove. You agree that you bear all risks associated with your User Content and the licensing thereof. You are solely responsible for safeguarding your User Content, and Sketchfab has no duty to store copies of User Content for future availability to you or any user except as otherwise provided under this Agreement. Sketchfab does not knowingly permit the infringement of intellectual property rights on the Services, and will remove User Content from the Services if properly notified that such User Content infringes on another's intellectual property rights. We reserve the right to remove User Content from the Services and terminate any licenses thereto, in whole or in part, without prior notice, for any reason or for no reason at all. Without limiting our right to terminate a User pursuant to Section 9 of this Agreement, we reserve the right to terminate the account of any User of the Services who has been notified of infringing activity more than twice and/or has had User Content removed from the Service more than twice. We also reserve the right to decide whether User Content is appropriate and complies with this Agreement for violations other than violations of intellectual property law. This shall extend to the right of Sketchfab to edit, modify, moderate, re-format, change or otherwise remove all or part of the descriptions, comments and/or annotations that you and/or third parties add and/or make in relation to your User Content, in any manner that We may determine, whenever We deem it appropriate.
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. SKETCHFAB'S MAXIMUM AGGREGATE LIABILITY TO ANY USER WILL BE THE AMOUNT PAID BY SUCH USER TO SKETCHFAB FOR THE PERIOD IN WHICH THE LIABILITY ARISES (UP TO A MAXIMUM OF USD10,000), ONLY IF THE USER HAS PAID FEES FOR USE OF THE SERVICES. SKETCHFAB WILL NOT OTHERWISE BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OF ANY KIND ARISING FROM THE USE OF THE SERVICE OR FROM ANY INFORMATION, SKETCHFAB CONTENT, DESIGNS, USER CONTENT, PRODUCTS OR SERVICES INCLUDED ON OR OTHERWISE MADE AVAILABLE TO YOU THROUGH THE SERVICE, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, AND CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED IN WRITING.
11.1 Applicable law and jurisdiction. The Services are primarily operated by Sketchfab from its offices in the United States and France. Access to the Services from jurisdictions where such access is illegal is prohibited. All matters arising from or relating to this Agreement and the use and operation of the Services shall be governed by the substantive laws of the state of North Carolina, USA, without regard to its conflicts of laws principles, except to the extent the privacy laws of other jurisdictions govern our treatment personal information as described in our Privacy Policy. Without derogation of the obligation to arbitrate set forth in Section 11.2 below, you agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. If you are accessing the Services from locations outside the United States, including the European Union, you will be responsible for compliance with all local laws of any such other location, and in no event will you use the Services or User Content in violation of US or EU export laws or regulations.
11.2 Arbitration. All disputes arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the Services shall be resolved exclusively by binding arbitration before a single arbitrator (the "Arbitrator") in accordance with the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association (the "AAA") then in effect and the further procedures set forth herein. (For information on the AAA and its rules, see www.adr.org.) The arbitration shall be conducted in Raleigh, North Carolina, unless the Arbitrator shall determine that that venue is not reasonably convenient to all parties, in which case the Arbitrator shall determine another venue that is. In the event that the AAA is unavailable or unwilling to administer the arbitration, and the parties are unable to agree to a substitute, a substitute shall be appointed by the court. The Arbitrator shall have authority to issue any and all remedies authorized by law. The arbitration shall be governed by the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. §§ 2 et seq. Notwithstanding any rules of the AAA to the contrary, any claims shall be adjudicated on an individual basis only, and ALL USERS WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO BRING ANY CLAIM AS A REPRESENTATIVE OF A PROPOSED CLASS, ON AN AGGREGATED OR MASS BASIS, OR AS A PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL, OR TO CONSOLIDATE ARBITRATION PROCEEDINGS WITHOUT THE CONSENT OF ALL PARTIES THERETO. Any award rendered by the Arbitrator shall be final, conclusive and binding upon the parties hereto. In connection with any arbitration proceeding pursuant to these terms and conditions, unless the Arbitrator shall determine otherwise, each party shall bear its own costs and expenses. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Sketchfab shall have the right to commence and prosecute any legal or equitable action or proceeding before any court of competent jurisdiction to obtain injunctive or other relief against you in the event that, in the opinion of Sketchfab​, such action is necessary or desirable. Also notwithstanding the foregoing, a User may at their option file an individual claim in any small claims court for disputes or claims within the scope of its subject matter jurisdiction if such court has personal jurisdiction. Sketchfab does not hereby waive any defense that such jurisdiction may be lacking in the User's jurisdiction.
11.3 Class Action Wavier. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, you agree to only bring disputes in an individual capacity and shall not: seek to bring, join, or participate in any class or representative action, collective or class-wide arbitration, or any other action where another individual or entity acts in a representative capacity (e.g., private attorney general actions); or consolidate or combine individual proceedings or permit an arbitrator to do so without the express consent of Sketchfab and all parties to all other actions or arbitrations.
1 Like
#13

A post was split to a new topic: Questions about Terms of Service Updates

#14

A post was merged into an existing topic: Questions about Terms of Service Updates

#15
#16

September 30, 2021

The following paragraphs have been removed from Section 5:

Our Basic plan is for hobbyists, students, or non-commercial use; our Pro plan is for individuals seeking a broader feature set. Companies using our services are required to subscribe to our Premium plan or above. Commercial use is granted with a Premium plan or above. If your company is a nonprofit organization or your yearly revenue is below US $100,000, you may be eligible for a discount.

Our Premium plan is limited to 10,000 views per month. If your Premium account goes beyond this limit, you will be asked to upgrade to an Enterprise plan, or your account will be disabled.

2 Likes
#17

November 1, 2021

The text in bold has been added to Section 5:

The User is not permitted to modify the design or alter the appearance of the Sketchfab viewer (e.g., in embeds or screen captures) other than by using the available embed customization options and the “Viewer API” methods provided by Sketchfab, and according to the User’s plan (Basic, Pro, Premium, Enterprise). Removing, hiding, or altering the Sketchfab logo watermark is prohibited to all users, under all plans except Premium and Enterprise.

Generally, we do not limit or impose additional fees for traffic consumption on Self-Serve accounts (Free, Pro, Premium). However, this policy is subject to fair use: If your aggregate traffic usage (across all your models) is higher than 99% of Self-Serve users on our platform in any calendar month, we may, at our discretion, charge fees for excessive usage, require you to upgrade to a more suitable plan, or terminate your account(s) upon advance written notice. If this occurs on your account, someone on our team will reach out to you about next steps. It’s worth noting that most accounts never reach this threshold.

#18

December 6, 2021

The following paragraph has been removed from Section 5:

Use of Sketchfab within advertisements or advertiser-supported content requires the license of an Enterprise account and express consent by Sketchfab for which you may contact us here.

1 Like
#19

March 16, 2022

We have removed Google Analytics from all our services.

Therefore, the following cookies have been removed from our Privacy Policy’s cookie list:

skfb_referrer_override: Holds the actual value of the request’s referrer, because it can be set incorrectly when using Google, Facebook, or Twitter login.

Google Analytics (_gat, _ga, _gid): To track traffic sources and measure aggregated KPI trends across our website.

The following paragraph has also been removed from the Privacy Policy:

Some of our Services may also use Google Analytics to analyze traffic. You can find out more information about Google Analytics cookies by visiting the following location: https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/analyticsjs/cookie-usage. To opt out of Google Analytics relating to your use of our Services, you can download and install the Browser Plugin available by visiting the following location: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en.

2 Likes
#20

June 7, 2022

We recently updated our privacy policy. Although we regularly make updates to align with changing privacy laws, this revision also includes a re-design for easier reading. These formatting changes do not change how we approach the privacy of your information, but the updated content reflects our recent steps toward minimizing the amount of information that we collect.

Here’s what’s new:

  • As a step toward minimizing the amount of information that we collect about our community, we removed several cookies from our sites, including all advertising/marketing cookies. For the privacy policy, that meant streamlining and shortening the disclosures regarding cookies. You can still adjust your cookie settings in our privacy preference center at any time.
  • We simplified the “Information We Collect” section with an easy-to-understand narrative about what information we collect, how and why we collect it, and how we use and share it.
  • We reformatted the section concerning data processing rights for clarity.
  • We updated the section on disclosures for California residents due to changes in California regulations since our privacy policy was last revised.

You can read the Sketchfab Privacy Policy in full at any time.