Uploaded March 2022 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Since 2015 I've been using Sketchfab to host 3D stuff I want to either show off directly in the browser or just make use of their really fantastic rendering engine to get better renders than I'm capable of myself. However to my dismay in January, I was targeted for my use of models ripped from games. Sketchfab is insisting I can't use them unless I have express permission from the game producers (which... with big megacorporation Nintendo... yeah never happening). The thing is this is only an issue if I was monetizing this stuff, which I'm not. But Sketchfab has set up their entire sitewide rules to be tailored for commercial use, so guess who just had her entire account locked and all models hidden from public view until the "infringing content is removed".
I genuinely can't think of an alternative to Sketchfab, so sadly I'll probably be deleting a lot of this stuff... f*** the rules that forced this to happen though. I maintain copyright is only a valid and understandable thing when it's an independent creator with personal attachment to their creation. When it's a corporation with millions of fans of their content, this kind of thing directly screws over said fans. And the corporation loses nothing from letting fans use their game models for non-commercial fun. So yeah, real fun situation here. I made clear my stance but unfortunately they aren't budging. I don't quite know what the line is either so I'm going to delete only the unmodified uploads (where it's a game model simply posed at most with no further modifications) and see what they say. Knowing my track record with these situations they'll probably count 100% of my uploads as infringement just because they are copyrighted characters... dear god I hope they don't.
Since 2015 I've been using Sketchfab to host 3D stuff I want to either show off directly in the browser or just make use of their really fantastic rendering engine to get better renders than I'm capable of myself. However to my dismay in January, I was targeted for my use of models ripped from games. Sketchfab is insisting I can't use them unless I have express permission from the game producers (which... with big megacorporation Nintendo... yeah never happening). The thing is this is only an issue if I was monetizing this stuff, which I'm not. But Sketchfab has set up their entire sitewide rules to be tailored for commercial use, so guess who just had her entire account locked and all models hidden from public view until the "infringing content is removed".
I genuinely can't think of an alternative to Sketchfab, so sadly I'll probably be deleting a lot of this stuff... f*** the rules that forced this to happen though. I maintain copyright is only a valid and understandable thing when it's an independent creator with personal attachment to their creation. When it's a corporation with millions of fans of their content, this kind of thing directly screws over said fans. And the corporation loses nothing from letting fans use their game models for non-commercial fun. So yeah, real fun situation here. I made clear my stance but unfortunately they aren't budging. I don't quite know what the line is either so I'm going to delete only the unmodified uploads (where it's a game model simply posed at most with no further modifications) and see what they say. Knowing my track record with these situations they'll probably count 100% of my uploads as infringement just because they are copyrighted characters... dear god I hope they don't.
