question about modeling existing commercial products (in this case a pair of sandals for V4)
StratDragon
Posts: 3,167
Okay, well years ago I requested a pair of Dr.Sholls sandals for v3 in the freebies section and ADZ came through and made these awesome shoes. I asked ADZ about the finer details and ADZ stated something like the model could only represent the product up to a point, which was fine with me they were awesome and free. Fast forward to six months of Blender use and I made a pair for V4 from scratch and added some of the details I felt were missing.
so my question is: If I were to model a model that looks as much like an existing brand name item as I can model at this point, I use this products corporate logo, their color schemes, their contours, etc. can I release this model to the general public for non commercial work. I'm not going to ask for money and the poly count is probably way too high due to my limited modeling experience and the fact I wanted to try and model the details outright and use texture maps only when necessary, yes their logo appears on the texture maps,I got it off a website that just has logos.
I don't even know if I can post a picture, but that's 2D, is that different?
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Comments
It would be risky, not least because you are potentially infringing against trademarks as well as copyright and trademarks must be actively defended to retain their validity.
If you're using their logo it would be trademark infringement for sure.
Not sure about just modeling the look of a real world product. You're not actually manufacturing a product that will compete with their existing copyrighted/trademarked product - unless they decide to sell a 3d model of their shoes of course.
Still, not a lawyer so I'd probably err on the side of caution in today's lawsuit happy society.
Dr. Scholl's sandals are not only trademarked, their design is patented. Best advice to what you are doing, don't. Unless you can afford the lawyer to get you out the mess you could potentially get yourself into (just because you make it free doesn't mean they can't take legal action against you), save yourself the potential headache.
Honestly I don't know, I don't know if it's fair use, or copyright infringement, or derisive interpretation which would be the 3 subsections of the law dealing with this question.
However, this
http://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/2009-chevy-camaro/96643/#
$10.95 on sale 30% off
and this
http://www.christies.com/features/2010-october-andy-warhol-campbells-soup-can-tomato-1022-1.aspx
Which sold for $9,200,000.00
are just two of countless other pieces of art that don't try and mask any names, logos, typefaces or colors schemes,, and I'm not posting here trying to argue, I'm just trying to model everyday things around me that look like the things they're modeled after, not parodies, and if I can give them away without legal repercussion I'd like to, but like I said, I don't know. The more I read I don't think the courts can decide either.
As I understand part of the issue is whether the use is incidental or not - a street-scene is going to show some cars, but they aren't the focus of the image and so you are unlikely t get into trouble, while a photo that focussed on a car design as its main point of interest might well be liable. Remember that Warhol did have trouble with his soup cans.
Unfortunately in 3D you aren't going to snap a car incidentally, or to go with your example your models aren't going to happen to show up wearing the sandals - whatever you show will be a deliberate choice, modelled to look that way, so the incidental usage defence is going to be harder to pull off (not, presumably, that you have the resources to fight an injunction anyway).
Do not go by what you find. Ask any who created Tomb Raider type outfits and ended up not only with Cease and Desist letters but in the case of those selling, were forced to pull the products.
Brokerages are not responsible for what a vendor creates and puts in their store. The vendor is. They will bear the brunt of the problems should the violate Trademark and/or patents and/or copyright.
As for the Warhol, I don't know all the legalities behind it but I'm sure there are many.
The point in this is you are what the law will consider willfully and deliberately infringing upon another companies Trademark and patent. There is no fair use when it comes to Trademarks, patents and copyrights. If you want to pay Dr. Scholl's or whoever their parent company is for the use of their Trademark and their patented design, you can. But I doubt you can afford it.
This tread alone makes it clear you didn't just happen to accidentally model a sandal that bears more than a striking similarity to the real thing.
As a judge I'm close friends with once told me: it doesn't matter a whit what the courts as a whole decide on an issue. What matters is the decision of the court you end up in.