Recently, I’ve been involved in a number of discussions with people in the SC4 world–both public and behind the scenes–about the practice of reusing third-party 3D models, obtained through various sites, such as 3D Warehouse, CGTrader, and TurboSquid, as parts of uploads to community file exchanges.
The use of such “pre-cooked” assets is one that has gone on for a long time in the SC4 community, ranging from small props to entire buildings, but there has been a noticeable lack of consistency in terms of how these assets are treated by those who use them, and by exchange policies. Those recent discussions have really made it clear to me that this practice has long needed a closer examination, and to that end, I would like to give some of my thoughts on how best to handle these situations, from a practical and ethical standpoint.
So, this of course begs the question–is it acceptable to use third-party 3D models as part of uploads to the exchanges? From my vantage point, the answer to that question is “yes”, but qualified with some common sense caveats.
One situation that I view as a textbook case of appropriate reuse of a third-party model is the CAL Winterton Tower upload from callagrafx, on the LEX at SC4 Devotion. callagrafx is himself a capable 3D modeler, but in this particular case, he reused a model from a stock library he has permission to use in his professional work as part of a render test, liked the result, and decided to share it with the SC4 community. He specifically notes in the file description that the building model is not his–being part of a stock library, the actual attribution would be difficult to come by, but he is transparent to the greatest extent possible about the origin of what is included in his upload.
Another fantastic case of reuse is the MGM Tower (Constellation Place) upload from edwardjeria on the STEX at Simtropolis. In this case, the uploader not only disclosed his use of a third-party 3D model, he even linked to the 3D Warehouse account that uploaded it.
There are a good number of 3D models out there on these model library sites that would prove to make excellent additions to one’s SC4 city, and they are made available on these sites with the intent that they may be put to use. But if you are going to use someone else’s model, it seems the logical and honest course of action is to disclose that the model is from someone else, and if possible, to credit the original creator.
Think about it–if you’re a BATer, and someone takes your model and, instead of referring to it as a dependency, sticks it in their upload and acts as if it’s theirs, without giving you any credit whatsoever, you’d be upset, and quite understandably so. Such a course of action is effectively plagiarism, and is a moral and ethical breach that, not surprisingly, constitutes a gross violation of site and exchange rules, and in many cases, also likely breaches the usually fairly permissive, royalty-free licenses that these sites often offer.
For those of you who have been around long enough to remember the “official exchange” that EA Maxis hosted on their old SimCity 4 product site, rampant plagiarism was what turned it into a wasteland. Independent community sites like Simtropolis and SC4 Devotion became the preferred choice for many SC4 content creators, because they maintained their exchanges and enforced rules against such breaches.
I’ll also note, there’s several different levels of questionable judgement that seem to occur with those who aren’t disclosing their reuse of “pre-cooked” models. Some, I suspect, are merely ignorant, or think they can get away with not citing their sources. But there are others out there who are more willful in their misrepresentations, by outright claiming that the models are theirs, by denying that they use third-party models, or in some cases, placing restrictive licensing on uploads they’ve made with models that aren’t theirs. The notion of someone who fails to disclose their reuse getting upset about a “re-reuser” who even (mistakenly) credits them is the height of hypocrisy.
Given the recent furor about the practice of some BATers using Patreon, covered in another recent editorial of mine, just imagine a hypothetical worst-case scenario: someone trying to make money off of uncredited “pre-cooked” models. That would, as Shepherd Book of Firefly might say, belong on “a special level”–not to mention that it would violate Patreon’s Terms of Use (see “Restrictions”) and Community Guidelines (see “Authenticity”).
Now, to those of you who might have downloaded files that contain uncredited “pre-cooked” model reuse: some of you may be wondering, do I have an ethical imperative to delete these files? My answer to that question would be “no”. It’s not your fault that the person who uploaded the file wasn’t honest. It is possible you may feel the reputation of those files has been sullied, and may wish to delete them on those grounds, but note that there is nothing obligating you to do so. Again, it’s not your fault.
As far as what to do with such files from the exchange management perspective, the cat is already out of the bag. These files are out floating around in the community, and if they were popular enough before any unseemly truths came out regarding them, then they are still going to be in demand. Removing them will simply move that demand for the files into the “seedy underbelly” of the SC4 community, out of the oversight of the quasi-regulatory powers of the sites that largely do a good job of managing things.
Indeed, speaking as the site owner and webmaster at SC4 Devotion, I am seeking to draft up a new policy, that minimizes harm to a community who innocently wishes just to add some content to their game, while ensuring that misrepresentation is not rewarded.
While it is still on the drawing board at this juncture, some of the points of such a policy that I am considering include: (a) the prospect of allowing a grace period within which an uploader can come clean and add disclosure without penalty, (b) suspending and/or terminating upload privileges and/or membership if the severity of misrepresentation warrants it, pursuant to our existing rules, and (c) removing uploader names and re-crediting files where undisclosed reuse has occurred, such that the files can remain available in a more honest form. Keep an eye on the SC4D Rules forum for updates, and in the meanwhile, free to weigh in on any such proposals–I welcome honest feedback, which will only serve to help craft the fairest and most effective policy.
In short, this all comes down to just being honest. If you used a model off 3D Warehouse or TurboSquid, that’s fine, but own up to it.
-Tarkus
