Model Licenses and Intellectual Property Basics

This page is general information, not legal advice. It describes how licenses and intellectual property work in broad terms, mostly under United States law. Laws differ between countries, and the terms of any particular file are set by its owner. If money or a dispute depends on the answer, ask a qualified lawyer.

Owning a file is not owning the design

When you download or buy a model, you get a copy of the file and whatever permission its owner attached. You do not get the copyright. The U.S. Copyright Office states it directly: mere ownership of a copy that embodies a work does not give the owner of that copy ownership of the copyright in the work.

Under U.S. law, the copyright owner has the exclusive right to reproduce the work, prepare derivative works based on it, and distribute copies to the public by sale or other transfer, and the right to authorize others to do those things. Printing and selling copies of someone's model falls under those rights, so you need the owner's permission, and the license is where that permission is written down. The Copyright Office's general rule is to seek permission from the copyright owner.

The practical rule: read the license of every model before you sell prints of it. Paying for a file does not by itself make selling prints allowed, and a free file is not automatically free to sell.

The kinds of terms you will see

Creative Commons licenses

Creative Commons publishes six standard licenses built from four elements:

Element	Meaning
BY	Credit must be given to the creator. All six licenses include it.
SA (ShareAlike)	Adaptations must be shared under the same terms.
NC (NonCommercial)	Only noncommercial use is permitted. Creative Commons defines noncommercial as not primarily intended for or directed toward commercial advantage or monetary compensation.
ND (NoDerivatives)	No derivatives or adaptations are permitted.

The six licenses, from most to least permissive, are CC BY, CC BY-SA, CC BY-ND, CC BY-NC, CC BY-NC-SA and CC BY-NC-ND. For someone selling prints, the key question is whether "NC" appears. A model under any NC license is not licensed for commercial use, which includes selling prints. Models under CC BY, CC BY-SA or CC BY-ND allow commercial use, but you still have to give credit as the license requires, and SA and ND add their own conditions on modified versions.

Creative Commons also offers CC0, which it describes as not a license but a public domain dedication. The Creative Commons FAQ says CC licenses are not revocable once granted unless there has been a breach, and notes that a creator can offer a NonCommercial CC license to everyone while selling commercial permission separately.

Personal use only

Many model sites and designers sell or share files under their own terms rather than Creative Commons. A common pattern is "personal use only": you may print the model for yourself but not sell prints, share the file, or use it commercially. The exact wording varies, so read it.

Commercial licenses

Some designers sell a separate commercial license or membership that permits selling prints. These are the designer's own terms, so read them closely: check whether they limit how many prints you may sell, whether they require credit, and whether they cover the file itself or only prints made from it. If any term is unclear, ask the designer in writing before you sell.

Copyright cautions beyond the file

• Characters and artwork. A model of a film, game or cartoon character can involve the copyright of whoever owns that character, separate from the person who made the model. A license from the model's designer may not cover rights that belong to the character's owner.
• Your own copy of something else. Modeling an existing sculpture, figure or piece of art yourself does not make it yours to sell.
• What copyright does not cover. The Copyright Office lists ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts and principles as not protected, along with titles, names, short phrases and slogans. That does not make those free to use: names and slogans can be trademarks.

Trademark cautions

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office describes a trademark as any word, phrase, symbol or design, or a combination, that identifies the source of goods or services. A brand's logo, name or product shape used on your print, or in your listing title, can suggest that your item comes from or is approved by that brand.

The USPTO explains that marks do not have to be identical to be confusingly similar; similarity in sound, appearance, meaning or overall impression can be enough when the goods are related. Avoid putting other companies' logos, brand names and team or product names on prints you sell unless you have a license from the owner. Do not describe your print as "official" or as a brand's product.

The same applies in reverse: if you build your own brand, the USPTO notes that you become a trademark owner as soon as you start using the mark with your goods, and that registration gives broader rights than an unregistered mark.

A checklist before you sell a print

1. Who made this model? Did I design it myself, from scratch?
2. If not, what license is attached, and does it allow selling prints? Does it include NC?
3. What credit does the license require, and where will I give it?
4. Does the model show a character, artwork, logo or brand name that belongs to someone else?
5. Have I kept a copy of the license as it read when I got the file?

If any answer is "I don't know", do not sell that print until you find out. For the rest of the selling side, see Selling Prints: Expectations, Failures and Disclosures and Pricing Custom Prints.