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Post by jennifer on Jan 15, 2018 22:04:19 GMT
I started reading the creative commons license and attribution etc.. got tired quickly reading it.. don't like to read legal stuff it's depressing.. mainly because it takes too long to read it.. have to read it slowly and then still there are questions.
Maybe someone can answer my question whether or not this stranger that sent me a personal message on thingiverse can sell my work for profit. Doesn't seem right.
"Hi Jennifer,
I love your cavern designs. They're perfect for my underdark campaign. I noticed that you are publishing them using the Creative Commons Attribution license. Does that mean I can print the pieces and sell them on etsy as long as I give you credit on the product page? I have had people asking me to print and sell some of the items I'm using in my game but don't want to do it without your permission.
Thanks, Name withheld"
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Post by sgtslag on Jan 15, 2018 22:19:36 GMT
Check to see if Thingiverse's license talks about copyright/ownership issues -- search for such key words, in the license agreement. They may have a clause that states all postings become their's, or public domain. If that is the case, he can doe whatever he likes: he is physically printing parts, so he can legally charge for them -- it is the same as going to an office supply store and paying to use their photocopiers to make copies of a book, or magazine. The office supply store is not charging for the words (intellectual property), they are simply charging for the reproductions made, regardless of the IP content. Per USA IP law, they owe nothing to the IP owner (the author/photographer of the work being copied). Look up the, "personal use", clause of the Copytright Law, found through Google/Bing/etc. -- again, use the search function to speed your reading.
He had the courtesy to ask you before he did it. I give him props for that.
The fact that you published your work on Thingiverse suggests to me that you offered it up for public consumption, at no charge. Legally, I do not believe you have any merit restricting his use of your designs. I am not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night... Cheers!
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art
Paint Manipulator
Posts: 109
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Post by art on Jan 16, 2018 0:33:01 GMT
Jennifer, I had the same thing happen to me and at least they had the courtesy of asking if they could print and sell it. They are doing it on ebay, however. That is at least what I am told. I haven't found it. The person selling my prints did not indicate he would even use my name. The next problem is that if they do sell your stuff, it is difficult to prove at times it is your stuff. They can just say they created it from scratch and copied your design. It won't be worth the court cost of trying to stop someone. also once someone makes even a small tweak to a design, it can be called something new.
If you are like me you don't mind people using your things, it is the profit making after spending time creating it that is the issue. I don't advertise. I don't have a website and I don't have anything on facebook. It would be nearly impossible for me to follow up on making sure that they aren't making money on my stuff. I am not exceptional, but I alone across 2 sites every month have over 2 thousand downloads of my stuff. At times I don't intend to duplicate someone else's work, but I have found things done before me that are really close to what I created. How can you prove originality? If you are like me and doing dungeons and dragons type work, you can't help but have some items similar to others whether you intended to or not.
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Post by erho on Jan 16, 2018 5:07:46 GMT
A lot of people make money selling casts and moulds of Hirst Arts terrain and other companies, totally legal.
Sorry to hear about your work
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guppy
Paint Manipulator
Posts: 202
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Post by guppy on Jan 16, 2018 7:57:43 GMT
Creative commons is the easiest of licenses, it's written so artists with no legal background can understand it. creativecommons.org/share-your-work/licensing-types-examples/creativecommons.org/licenses/#licensestldr; you compose the licenses from [by,sa,nc,nd] by - you must attribute the creator sa - you must share modified works under the same license nc - no commericial usage nd - you cannot modifiy the creation CC-BY-NC-ND is the most restricive you can - you allow other to freely copy and distribute the work provided they attribute it's creation to you and do not charge for or modify the work. CC-BY - the most permissive do what every you like as long as you credit. But with out knowing the string of letters you attached there isn't much we can tell you
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Post by margaret on Jan 16, 2018 19:00:13 GMT
Jennifer, I looked up one of your Thingiverse posts - the Library Shelves - and followed the Creative Commons link attached to that post. The Creative Commons page it took me to doesn't use the codes, but has the full text of the terms for your post. Summarizing, it says that anyone can download the file, print it, and use it as they like, including selling it, as long as they attribute it to you, so the codes must be CC-BY.
I don't know how one posts to Thingiverse and selects the Creative Commons codes, but you might want to figure that out before you post again, if you don't want your stuff used for commercial purposes. Although if I read the Thingiverse terms correctly, the Makerbot company itself has the right to make and sell anything posted on Thingiverse, if it chose to do so.
Not a lawyer...
At least he actually asked, when he seemingly didn't have to.
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Post by curufin on Jan 16, 2018 21:57:45 GMT
As others have pointed out, if you just have the CC-attributions license attached to your models, they can sell them for profit (they just have to say it is your original work).
If you change your license to Non-commercial, they can not sell the files or the printed pieces those files produce.
It was really good that they asked...that is rare. I personally have had 12 counts of people trying to sell my copyrighted works. And I would imagine it is even higher than that, I just don't know about it.
Just go back to Thingiverse, edit your thing and change the license.
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Post by erho on Jan 16, 2018 22:28:53 GMT
Yank it and put it up on Drive Thru RPG with a "Pay what you want" option and you'll get the occasional compensation!
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Post by jennifer on Jan 16, 2018 23:15:05 GMT
Thanks I changed it to what you set yours too curufin: non commercial attribution.
Then I thanked the person messaging me, for pointing it out.. I told them as consolaton they could sell up to 20 of them for profit because they were kind enough to ask.
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Post by curufin on Jan 16, 2018 23:24:53 GMT
Good. One more thing to note: If someone creates a 'remix' to one of your models, like they just add skulls to it or something, they also would have to use the same license the original work had. I had someone fully re-release one of my models with a changed license so they could sell it.
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Post by jennifer on Jan 17, 2018 3:49:34 GMT
Btw, how is Hero's Hoard working out for you? Making some decent cash with your awesome work?
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Post by curufin on Jan 17, 2018 4:23:19 GMT
Btw, how is Hero's Hoard working out for you? Making some decent cash with your awesome work? It is actually going extremely well. Im also doing lots of commission work for some big miniature companies. It really eats into my own design time.
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Post by tauster on Jan 17, 2018 16:23:04 GMT
Btw, how is Hero's Hoard working out for you? Making some decent cash with your awesome work? It is actually going extremely well. Im also doing lots of commission work for some big miniature companies. It really eats into my own design time.Can't tell you how much I love to hear that, curufin!
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Post by curufin on Jan 18, 2018 2:45:10 GMT
Thanks, tauster!
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Post by adamantinedragon on Jan 18, 2018 4:36:05 GMT
A lot of people make money selling casts and moulds of Hirst Arts terrain and other companies, totally legal. Sorry to hear about your work If you sell Hirst Art casts for profit you have to get an agreement from Bruce Hirst to allow you to do that, and he takes a small cut each month. I've been considering doing that for quite a while now, but I've never pulled the trigger. Bruce is OK if someone has stuff they've cast for personal use and they are selling it off because they don't want it anymore, but commercial sales of his stuff are illegal without his permission.
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Post by erho on Jan 18, 2018 14:28:03 GMT
I stand corrected, hopefully all those on eBay are legit
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