Fighting blatant piracy on the CGT

Huff,

Thanks for keeping our support teams on their toes!

As for the limit, reported models get suspended for review, that is why they are the only ones that you don't see in the marketplace before our team gets to review the user and the model in question.

The limit is reasonable in this case I believe, as it doesn't let the abusive people overtake the marketplace - there are cases when a competitor may want to cause damage to users and I think we all want to avoid that. So if you think someone is blatantly stealing the assets, the best ways are to write to our support, or report it here (although it also gets forwarded to the team).

I also want to point out that it is not just a CGT problem because that Deadpool model is also on Turbosquid for much higher prince :D

Btw I used my two reports on this guy. https://www.cgtrader.com/3d-models?author=tirthparmar813
Yep, two reported models disappeared but this guy account is still active so reporting two models of someone is not enough.
He has wide range of skills. He opened 3ds max for the first time and done 101 tutorials how to model a lamp, cup or bench. Next day he woke up and sculpted awesome statue of Hulk.
I wish I had that fast learning curve.

hmm.. so apparently I can't report more than two models.. whaaaat? :D
I got this "error" notice message "If you want to report more than two models, please contact us at info@cgtrader.com"
I don't want to write an email every time I see a pirate.

Three more Deadpools
https://www.cgtrader.com/3d-models/character/sci-fi/deadpool-0514e9bd-d129-4bd1-8f86-81160ab2b095
https://www.cgtrader.com/3d-models/character/fantasy/deadpool-drawing-sword
https://www.cgtrader.com/3d-models/character/fantasy/deadpool-a26c308e-18f4-4c10-9987-bb7e88a3d574
(wrongly assigned texture on accessories.. oy)

The last guy is special. He is mirroring his pirated models so no one will recognize them :)
He has problems with textures. Here is Mercy rip from Overwatch with wrong texture on hair and wings, how he can't notice it? Probably never played it.
https://www.cgtrader.com/3d-models/character/fantasy/mercy

And he probably ripped whole Disney Infinity game :), here we have that faceting / unable to smooth problem again.
https://www.cgtrader.com/3d-models/character/fantasy/finn-starwars

Hi guys,

The user in question was suspended, so thank you for the reports!

As for the banning process - we happily kick out all users that are clearly stealing content or receive numerous reports in succession. We're removing way more models and users than before, leniency is shrinking, but the dedication for it is also something be improved of course.

Our team also review all the reports and make decisions whether to warn, ban or clarify the designers - so the reports don't go to waste. Of course it is something that can and will be improved. I don't want to make empty promises at the moment - but a huge war on piracy is coming. Whether we fight it as a community or by ourselves, it's not something we want to or will ignore.

As for uploading process, we are also preparing plans that will make sure we don't have the assets that some users post now - one picture, 3 words, etc. (sorry for my vagueness) - our team is sorting out the optimal process of easy uploading vs. clear rules and limitations on what is allowed.

IP addresses should be banned for sure but since there are many free and paid VPNs it would probably doesn't help too much.

What I found more frustrating is that sometimes when CGT (TS also) finds a guy with a pirated model they remove just that one model a does not ban the whole account.

DeagmanNs Deadpool was removed by someone but he is still selling his other models. All of them can be found on the same russian website. Is it really necessary to report one and every model?

There should be zero tolerance against pirates, one pirated model = ban.

I agree with IndieArt, one person is better than no-one.
Also - why does marketplaces like CGTrader and TurboSquid only ban accounts and not IP-addresses? This war will NEVER end if these pirates are free to create unlimited new accounts.

Well I will try to explain later more but it is like this.. why are people building fences around their houses. Every thief can climb it if he really wants but still people build it. It has an effect.

I believe one person is enough for store of this size.
I refuse to be reconciled with this issue. I'm sure there are solutions and they are not complicated.

" Simple. As any other law in your civil life. You don't have to obey laws but you are doing it because of consequences. " - In that case, countermeasures against piracy is already take care. Take a look here: https://www.cgtrader.com/pages/terms-and-conditions 4.1 That should be enough, isn't? :]

As for the moderation, i think you underestimate the amount of work that should be done for this to work effectively. One or two person clearly wouldn't be enough. Although i agree that CGT should have at least one person employed full time who's sole assignment would be to find IP infrigement cases and take actions against pirates.

Ok, one fast moderation system for wireframes images can be done like this:
- there will be special field for wireframes images, or some checkbox or something like this
- if not filled, publishing would not be allowed
- Moderator will have just list of published with quite small thumbnails of wireframe images, even from small thumbnail you can say if is it wireframe or not.
- you can scan thru thousands of uploaded models in few minutes like that imo.

I'm sure there are even more clever and simpler methods.

@LemonadeCG "And how it supposed to work?" Simple. As any other law in your civil life. You don't have to obey laws but you are doing it because of consequences.
It is also waaaay easier to spot and report model without that mandatory images than hunt it down on a russian sites.
Wireframe images should be mandatory for classic 3D models not only because of piracy. I don't understand how someone can buy a model without it (if is it happening at all which I doubt).
Also if you have store which has such problems with piracy you just need to pay a person or two for scanning thru uploaded models.
These Deagman models are on front page for days. They have written "PIRATED" all over them and no one from CGT staff noticed that?

And how it supposed to work? Who should ensure that those mandatory previews would be really uploaded? If you're thinking about moderated approval, then forget it - that would require either huge human resources or approval times would be so long, that will effectivelly would kill new uploads. Most likely it would be both. The only way to fight piracy with some efficiency is vigilance of sellers. Cgtrader should have great interest in fighting piracy and should introduce some tangible reward system for those who actively reports IP infrigements. Usually it's not that hard to spot pirated models and i can tell you amount of suspicious models in this marketplace is huge. Unfortunatelly, to gather enough evidence about each case of IP infrigement takes time and effort and without any kind of reward for vigilant actions, you sooner rather than later will loose interest in doing so.

Without willingness of CGT to declare war against piracy, you can do nothing about this. So sit back and relax, you get to used to this, as cynical as this may sound.