Hi,
I’m a 3D modeler and I plan to publish a 3D environment to the marketplace. I read its guidelines an they say:
“Use of unmodified public domain content is limited to assisting with presentation, while not being the majority of the submission, and the content must have been modified so as to bring new value to the assets. Sellers must cite the source and include a link to the source content in the product’s Technical Information that includes clear public domain usage information. Epic will verify via that link that the content is in the public domain and fully redistributable.”
And now i’m a bit uncertain what to think of it. I do use a lot of CC0 Textures on my models. These are usually modified (baked on the model textures) but it will be a pain to cite the sources (especially for every model or texture). Even finding them on those websites again will be hard. Do i really have to do that?
On the other hand the CC0-licenses do not require any attribution, so why is it required here?
Also some minor models are part of the environment (let’s say a bucket or a flower pot), i plan to include them in the environment, even though i didn’t modify them significantly - except for making them “unreal ready”. Will this violate the guidelines?
Br
Hey @Begleiterkubus! Welcome to the forums!
So unfortunately all assets that fall under CC-0 will need to be cited somewhere on your product page, description, or documentation. The marketplace does comb through and try and check for that stuff as much as possible. Also, you will only have to cite the assets used themselves, not necessarily how they are used if that helps.
Unfortunately, if they do find anything on third party websites like models, textures, etc. they will have you cite it or remove it.
The most likely reason for the need for citation is for transparency between sellers and buyers, making sure everything is on the up and up, and to make sure that you and the buyers have a guarantee there won’t be legal ramification for selling or using the assets. HOWEVER, to get a direct answer on the subject, you will need to reach out to Unreal Marketplace support.
https://marketplacehelp.epicgames.com/s/marketplace-case-form
I hope the above is the answer you were looking for, and good luck in your seller career!
Hi Quetzalcodename,
thank you for your quick reply. It helps. Citing only the source makes it easier. In some cases i baked two or more materials on one UV-Map. Some of those materials were CC0, others were made by myself. It would have made it impossible to use them, unless i would want to give my own textures to the public domain as well.
Do you think it would be enough to cite the websites - like “Textures are taken from Textures • Poly Haven” - or is it required to link any texture that was used somewhere. The latter will be more work, of course. I believe i downloaded some of them a couple of years ago, not sure if i will find them. And since it is legal to use them in my product and the original author had its reasons to give them to the public domain (and did not make use of CC-BY 4.0 for example), this would be kind of frustrating.
How about asset packs - like this: https://freepbr.com/materials/download-all-pbr-textures-now/ ?
br.
Hey @Begleiterkubus!
Citing the websites should be enough, though if they find any elsewhere under a different license they may ask for specifics. As for whether or not specific websites or assets can be used, if you contact the Unreal Marketplace Support team, they will be able to check the license agreements and give a yay or nay for assets, cutting out any guesswork on your end or lost time if you were planning on using them but end up not being able.
Thanks a lot!
So I’m gonna give it a try :).