Reselling a 3D model I bought?

#1

Hi guys, I am new here so sorry if this is the wrong place to ask.

I am planning to hire a 3D artist to model and texture the characters i have designed for my game. I have contacted the artist by phone and we have agreed on the price. But i want to make sure legally I am allowed to resell the 3D models (on unity asset store), since our team have very limited budget and we want to make every penny worth it.

So my question is how do I make sure that I own the 3D model and am able to sell it when needed? Do i need to use a third party site to legally prove that i have purchased all rights of the models?

#2

So you want to screw your graphics artist and search for a legal advice how to do it best?

I would ask a lawyer. The matter is not this easy.

#3

First of all just talk to the guy youre hiring and check that they understand that this is a ‘work for hire’ job. ie they will simply be an employee and that all created content will be yours to do as you wish, let them know that they will lose all rights to the work created other than for self promotional purposes.

I don’t see any of this as screwing them over, so long as you are all agreed and a suitable price has been reached.

In terms of paperwork, often the simplest approach is a basic plain english document that you both sign. Something like.

I Joe Bloggs acknowledge that all work performed for Billy Bob on the Blah project will become the sole property of Billy Bob to use for any purpose and resell as he sees fit. I relinquish all copyrights to the work produced with the exception of using said work for self promotional purposes.

#4

What 3DFluff said, but due to the graphics artist signing over all rights you need to be prepared to part with more money than if it were just for your own use of the created assets.

#5

Most 3d artist reuse old models for clients anyways and some probably got there model from someone else.

Jk folks dont get mad.

#6

Actually that is something youd need to consider. If I am working on a job and it needs a wooden barrel, Im going to be grabbing the model from my archive of bits and bobs that I have gathered and often paid for in the past. If the artist includes any premade components, then you reselling it would enter a grey area depending on how much that asset is transformed.

You might think the characters will be 100% original, but belts, buckles, hats, glasses etc could all be existing components.

#7

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#8

So you want to screw your graphics artist and search for a legal advice how to do it best?
I would ask a lawyer. The matter is not this easy.

No, we have agreed with the artist that we would get exclusive rights of the models. But we have found out as you said, this matter is not easy and we would need a detailed contract. So we have postponed the character design until we get a good lawyer and secure every design and model we made.

#9

Well we can ask the artist not to use any existing props he had but that would probably make prices worse for us. We dont need to be %100 original, our only requirement is to stick to the character description and drawings. But I dont think reusing generic parts of the model is in the gray area, that is most sensible way to do things after all.

#10

Ah okay, it wasn’t this clear to me that the artist had already agreed. But as you found out, it’s always problematic to clear the legal part afterwards now.

#11

Thanks for the advice

#12

Exclusive rights is completely different from what you want to do.
Exclusivity means the artist may not resell or reuse the assets to other clients, but he still owns them and you have no right to resell them, even possibly reuse or adjust them without the artist/author’s permission.

#13

Yup definetly you are gonna want to detail in the contract current needs and future needs of the provided assets so re-sale specifically is covered. Otherwise there are potential legal hassels for you down the road.

For example most self-respecting professional artists knowing you plan to re-sale their work should really be able to charge you a lot more for the right to do that! A young inexperienced artist might not catch on or be more forgiving. But as they get older and wiser they might say " hey wait a minute-thats my model they trying to sell…" and come back at you with professional experience, harder perspective, and the money to lawyer up too. And that transition might only take a couple of years if they are good.

If all the details are in a contract in the first place its way better for you…