I took a free model from Sketchfab, imported it into blender, then into roblox studio. the model is under CC BY-NC licence, and i want to know if using it in my roblox game is considered commercial uses or not. The model is an aerial tramway which i want to use in my cable car game.
Here is the model:
here’s the link to the page: Cable Car (GTA IV) - Download Free 3D model by KurumA (@rubenn) [e48fd0a] - Sketchfab
I tried looking on the licence pages online, but understood almost nothing…
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
It technically counts as commercial use since you’re using it inside of your game, in which you earn robux from when people play it and the licence specifically says to not use it commercially. So i wouldn’t use it if i were you.
if i dont have any gamepasses or anything on my game, does it still count? im sure there must be a way to turn off monetization or something
That doesn’t change anything. You still earn premium payouts and such. Having it in a public roblox game counts as commercial use.
is there another solution? if i recolor the model, change it slightly or something, can i somehow be legal? there are not many aerial tramway models out there… at least not as good as this one
the licence states that you are able to modify the model, but the copyright still remains the same. Even if you modify it, you do not own the rights to the model.
I suspect the reason for that is because the model could have been taken directly from the game GTA IV so the model isn’t even theirs.
so… should i use it in my game or make another similar one out of roblox parts instead? i already made the entire mountain system and everything. i would just have to change the aestetics
to play it safe yeah, make a similar one out of Roblox parts (or in a 3d software of choice)
or you could find a regular tram (that has the appropriate license) and delete its wheels
I don’t think you are allowed to use models from Sketchfab inside of Roblox at all, due to the possibility of exploiters gaining access to your game’s 3D environment.
Here is an extract from their license page:
You may not use the 3D asset in a way that allows others to use or access the 3D asset as a stand-alone file (for instance, no sub-license or sale by you to others is allowed). For similar reasons, you may not distribute the 3D asset incorporated in a derivative work if the derivative work is too similar to the 3D asset (for instance, you may not print a 3D asset or a slightly modified version of it and sell it).
I’ve come to this conclusion because I asked a similar question to the TurboSquid Copyright Attorney, and they do not like Roblox’s security and community interaction.
While I may be wrong, I would recommend emailing Sketchfab.
I’m in the process of emailing CGTrader (another free model website, but I’ve yet to hear anything). If they are ok with their models on Roblox, then that could be a good alternative.
You can learn more about CC BY-NC here, as I previously made a feature request to prevent the monetization of experiences via Premium Payouts optionally (specifically for educational experiences), in order to use Non-Commercial assets:
As @dev4q mentioned, developers are currently unable to use assets for “Non-Commercial” use with Premium Payouts. If there is a future system that can make Premium Payouts optional, technically you can use CC BY-NC assets. I suggested this feature in the above feature request. I’ve seen others suggest this in the past as well:
Of course, if you can find a model with a Commercial license, you may use it in your Roblox experience. You may have to attribute the creator, and may or may not be able to modify the asset.
I also saw that on the model that the creator commented you can use the model on Roblox, which I am assuming was asked by OP. Since explicit permission was given, the NonCommercial license to the model is technically overridden (specifically for Roblox experiences):
@mcrafish2022 This was a great approach to using the model in your Roblox experience, considering its Non-Commercial license. Make sure to keep this comment for reference in case your model is removed from Roblox for breaking its license (which usually does not occur). This way, you can claim permission to using the model.
If the model is from another game, as @Hazelfluff mentioned, DO NOT USE IT. (unless you get permission from GTA IV)
and… how could i do that? can i contact them on discord or something? something fast and simple? no other sites of theirs that want a bunch of information or anything…
I found this on the game publisher’s website:
For information about our policy on posting copyrighted material to YouTube or other platforms, please visit:
https://support.rockstargames.com/articles/200153756/Policy-on-posting-copyrighted-Rockstar-Games-material
For any other legal enquiries, please reach out to:
Copyright@take2games.com
I would use the email address to contact them for legal inquiries, but only if you are sure that the model is owned by this game publisher.
(Note that most likely they will not allow you to use to model, or you will have to pay. I am also not entirely sure if this is the correct publisher, so make sure you are searching for the right contact information online.)
I also found out:
Generally, Take-Two Interactive does not object to our fans using materials for non-commercial uses in a manner which does not intentionally spoil the plot for others.
I’m not entirely sure if this is the correct publisher, though this means you will have to contact them for permission to use their content on Roblox, as your use-case is considered commercial use. You most likely will need to offer monetary compensation, royalties, or some other form of credit. At this point, I would use a different mesh or create a mesh myself given the time this takes to process and the unlikelihood of the game publisher reaching out.
yea i think i will make a similar one on roblox studio out of parts. there are a bunch of cable cars all over the world that look like that, so i will see what i can do
