Ford and TurboSquid Exclusive License

US Copyright law gives full legal rights of commercial content creation of a brand / franchise to the owner of the brand / franchise, except under the very limited clause of fair use (which mostly concerns parody or substantially useful commentary). So for example, under US law, Disney can sue you for selling a 3d model of a light saber, if you did it without their permission and without seeking a license from them. I think Disney specifically hasn't been cracking down on that, especially because the Star Wars rights have only been with Disney for a few years, but they may double down on that at any time. You can't argue with US law. I agree it sucks, but the only way to change it is to fight it in court to change the law. This is not the fault of cgtrader. You should haver known your legal rights going into it. Ford is not the only one - you better believe the NFL is like a rabid dog when it comes to cracking down on unlicensed commercial use of their brand / franchise. You are supposed to create a generic car model without branding it specifically. It can be close enough to the car you specifically want to model, just tweak it till it is different enough that they can't claim it is their specific car. Then you can sell that model on cgtrader!

The question is how many% should be a difference between the original. Who gives expert assessment?

Yeah, I would rather miss out on sales with my Ford vehicles that putting them up on TurboSquid, it's quite a shame because one of my favourite models in my portfolio is a Ford 1950 F1 Pickup. And after being with CGT, I'm not even open to considering selling elsewhere. Personally I'm in Australia and it was a task and a half setting up my account with them because our Australian Tax Office declares it as international income. Whereas here it's PayPal and tax-free from the ATO.

I totally agree with you, it will put too much pressure on designers and the trade. All in all, I hope I can keep up to date in case anyone else does follow.

Ford - hog. Comparing their incomes from sales of 3D models - is silly.
Moreover, there is a sculptor Anthony Howe, who was also perturbed by the fact that the model has been copied in 3D. Although in reality the donkey does not even have a patent on its design in metal. Nevertheless CG created a bad precedent by removing my model - not trying to defend the 3D artist.

Fdor Ragner
Fodr Nomdeo

Agree with your view, I mean we sell with editorial license here, and other 3d stores, my point is restricting Ford models only at TurboSquid, its like Ferrari license with Mattel for their diecast models, where we miss out better company like AutoArt. So Ford gets some percentage of royalty.

I doubt that anyone would even bother checking the difference as long as you don't use the logos and specific keywords.

Then why CG removed my model is only based on the fact that it is relatively similar to the physical model of Anthony Howe. What kind of nonsense???!!!

I was not aware of this agreement between ford and TurboSquid. That's a real shame because when I was deciding what primary online store to use to sell my work I chose CG Trader because they are the best out there. Not only do they have high royalty rates, but they want you to grow as a designer so that they can grow their customer base. I think it's great that they offer a point based system for liking products, sharing with the community, nearly everything you do here is rewarded and that's what i love about CGT.

So is Ford the main one? Because I'm a primary Automotive modeller, I wonder how many other vehicle brands require a license? I wonder if CGT would be able to provide a basic list of prohibited models for us, just so we can keep to our agreements.

I saw someone else post above naming it differently. Is this all it takes? Make a ford model and just label it without the word Ford. This is confusing, gosh... this makes me dislike TurboSquid even more, so happy I'm with CGT

Most sell models with editorial license with onus on the buyer to get permissions for commercial use is what I understand, in this case if we make Ford cars we have to use TurboSquid with their low royalty, only hope others don't follow this model and stitch up this trade. I realised this when I was trying to find Ford models here and could not find any new models.

I understand that my voice - a drop in the ocean.
But I want to express an opinion on these precedents.
I have no respect for any Ford or Anthony to Hove.
I think their petty, greedy and short-sighted.
It is foolish to compare corporate income with small sales of 3D actor
Our work contributes to the promotion of brands, names, we make them advertising.
Anyway - I'm not going to go on about. I have my own trading platform and I will sell everything from which refuse to CG and TS

Maybe, but I will continue to do so. This is my fight.
Fiskar -axes and spades?
Enesko - gift models?

Yep.

Just so I have this straight: people are complaining that a company that makes real cars is somehow being unfair to digital model-makers by having an exclusive license with TurboSquid? Isn't that their choice?

Anyway, I'm not a lawyer, but any time you make a model with copyrighted logos (such as Ford and Ferrari) and sell it using the copyrighted names, then you better have a license or permission to do so. Otherwise, you're selling someone else's intellectual property and there's always the chance that the company could issue a takedown notice.
(Think about it the other way: suppose someone hired you to design a spaceship for a TV show that became popular. How would you feel if people made their own version of your spaceship, put it up for sale, and made money from something you designed? Then how would you feel if you had an exclusive deal with a website but then other people complained that you were taking away their right to sell their versions of your model?)

You can still make a look-alike car without the official logos can call it "Family Sedan" or something generic, but calling it a "Frod" could still get you in trouble with Ford since they could claim you renamed it to avoid their search.
Plus, there will be less risk for your customers when they buy a generic car since they may need an additional license to use a Ford-branded car in their project. They don't need to get sued by Ford because a model has a Ford logo on it.

My suggestion is to get permission from the company or talk to a copyright lawyer.

Well, Ford has the rights to the trademark.
What would you say if I make a 3D model which is similar to a physical model, but does not have brand names and similar names?