Is it okae to use models from another game??

[neok182]

I really dont see any 'legality' issues, your not selling them, your not making profit off of them, as long as you dont claim you made them then i dont see the problem

 

the problem is that your using copywrighted material from one game which you have no permission what-so-ever to use and putting it into another game.

 

And it's because of that that it's technically illegal. many sites don't care and many ports/converts get uploaded anyway as long as nothing is said about them. but some sites such as Nexus have a strict no porting policy. which for fallout and oblivion isn't that bad since 90% of the mods are scratch made anyway.

 

For other games such as GTA theres only maybe 10-15 actual real modelers in the modding scene now so a good 85-90% of the new cars are converts from other games.

[yokoshiwa]

Well, I could upload the model somewhere for reference for those who want to remodel it (cant do it myself cause I suck at it). Or I could point out to you where I found all these models, its fairly low res but i bet someone has found better models for study than mine.

[youreviltwinSA]

I would like to point out that converting models/sounds/textures etc from STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl IS legal. Shortly after the game came out someone asked if they could convert the models for use in Half-Life 2 and Counterstrike and they said sure, no problem.

 

Some game companies are very protective of their intellectual property, but the makers of STALKER recognise that if people start enjoying their guns in other games, it'll work as an advertisment and make people more interested in buying STALKER!

[Nick2kman]

not ok to use other games content i dont know about, other game mods models though

[Wintermut3]

Fair warning: I am not an Intellectual Property lawyer, I am not even a full lawyer (yet), though I do have some training. None of this should be interpreted as legal advice, only a local lawyer familiar with both your country state/province/ect. and potentially applicable international IP laws could give a full answer to your question.

 

 

The interesting thing here is that I'm not sure that technically that model's creator is its owner: it could be interpreted two ways, one is that there was a novel inventive step required to turn the pictures of a real life weapon and thus it's property of the artist. ON THE OTHER HAND, if it's a real-life weapon, then the images/likenesses of such a weapon may be the property of the person holding said trademark.

 

Since in most cases certain things (weapons being one of them) cannot be trademarked, or are owned by governments, I'm not sure that there is a real legal risk.

 

You would be opening yourself up to a potential lawsuit if anyone cared. Some artists are very protective of their work, some are not. Some are good at defending them legally some just like to send threatening letters.

 

The real story is chances are no one will care but if someone does it could cause you a significant problem because defending your use of the model would take going to court, in the artist's jurisdiction most likely, and are you really going to travel cross country or even internationally to appear in court and argue that the artist doesn't have standing to sue? or are you going to take your lumps and just take the mod down and potentially pay any fines/royalties?

 

An argument could be potentially made that the artist isn't the IP owner, that the weapon designer is. In the SVD's case this means you could try to argue only the Russian government would have standing to sue you for it. But as I've said that would take actually going to fight it at all.

 

Basically to use the model would be to potentially break the law and hope no one cares enough to make you defend yourself