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Models of rl products and tech

1bravodeltabravo1bravodeltabravo Posts: 23
in The Commons
So you go to CGTrader or other CG store and you can find models of real life products and such like the latest Samsung phones. However when I look at the Daz store it is like artists are avoiding even making likeness models. For example, the WW2 U.S. Soldier for G8 comes with an M1 Garand, but it isn't called that, just simply 'WWII Rifle' (rather vague, there were a lot of different kinds of rifles used in WW2). I am curious as to why this is?

Comments

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,704
    edited October 2017

    Many real life products are trademarked or have legal terms governing their use.... If a site has a digital copy of a licensed item they either obtained permission to sell it or they did not have the rights to do so and are selling it against the right holders permissions...Some items may be public domain... but there is a fair amount of unlicensed replicas on sale at various stores.

    Post edited by Serene Night on
  • FirstBastionFirstBastion Posts: 8,049

    The real life product designs are owned by the companies that created them.  Three areas of law would come into play from an intellectual property right stand point,  copyright,  trademark and patents.  Each of those focus on different elements. (Trademark the name,  patent the design,  copyright the story) ) We can't simply make a replica of a samsung phone and make it available for sale, and  sell it without getting permission and perhaps having to pay a license fee to Samsung for the right to do so.  That's the reason why,  products sometimes get pulled from the store.  Daz gets a letter that the product is too close to an existing IP from the IP holder, and the possibility of litigation is enough to get it pulled. 

    Other CG stores?  who knows they may be too small,  or too ill informed to know better,  Or they actually make so much money that they paid the original rights holder the required  license fee to have the right to make the product.

  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 108,110

    Some stores also offer different kinds of licensing, restricting the usage of the real-world items in a way that they believe will avoid legal issues but which would block some uses allowed under the Daz EULA.

  • ValandarValandar Posts: 1,417

    IOW, the products you have seen at other sites have technically been copyright or trademark violations.

  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 41,861
    edited October 2017

    ...Turbosquid is one store that pretty strict about licencing.  Many RL trademarked items sold there are often listed as "For Editorial Use" meaning they can freely be used journalistic purposes but nothing else without express permission from the company which makes the actual item and holds the intellectual rights. For example, I was looking at the Kawai 9' Concert Grand piano there (incredibly accurate down to the frame, strings, hammers, dampers and tuning pins) for my story, however then noticed the "Editorial Use" licence.  Were I to purchase and use it, I would first need to contact Kawai Pianos in Japan to secure rights (possibly even paying royalties) to use the instrument model for illustrations for my work as it is not "journalistic" in nature.

    Now were there a model that was just as accurate, but with no trademark name on any part (side, fallboard, frame) I most liely would be OK as concert grand pianos for the most part have a pretty generic look to them (except the Böesndorfer Imperial which has an extra 9 keys in the bass). If on the other hand someone created a faithful model of a Hammond B-3 with Leslie cabinet and either left the name off or used some fictitious company name, that could be a different matter as the B-3 is a fairly unique and iconic instrument compared to other electronic organs/keyboards used by bands.

    I've seen many accurate models of RL vehicles and aircraft, both for sale and offered as freebies on different sites. Some will include the disclaimer that they are only for personal non-commecial use (which prohibits using them in rendered images that generate revenue) while oithers post no such requirement.  True though, it is tough to know if an individual vendor/freebie creator has a licence agreement with the parent company that produced the item or not, or the parent company doesn't care one way or the other.

    Post edited by kyoto kid on
  • 1bravodeltabravo1bravodeltabravo Posts: 23
    Thanks all for the information! Very useful.
  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,704

    Turbosquid only has those terms for certain items... other content is clearly trademarked with no special terms of use. I would be cautious buying anything from there.

  • Oso3DOso3D Posts: 15,085

    Yeah, some stuff straight up says 'ripped from X game'.

    So, points for being up front about it, I guess.

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