Documents like licenses, privacy policies and other related terms of use have historically been overly complicated for those that are most affected by their content. We, at TurboSquid, recognized that not only were our policy documents difficult to understand, but that as the industry has changed, so must the guidelines that govern participation within it.
Today we are releasing significant revisions to the terms related to publishing and purchasing content via TurboSquid.
The ultimate goal of these changes is to simplify the verbiage without sacrificing the content or coverage provided to artists, customers or our core business while incorporating changes based on this ever-evolving industry and the often unexpected lessons learned from our 13 years in the business.
Links to all of TurboSquid’s Policies are available at the newly created “Policies Page” available at http://support.turbosquid.com/entries/28757878.
Permission Decisions
Once the changes have been made, upon logging into TurboSquid.com, artists will be prompted to make additional permission selections (as depicted in the image on the right).
We strongly encourage you to read the details related to each option prior to making your selection, however we have provided short descriptions for each option below.
Legal Permissions
- Changes to the Publisher Agreement include requiring additional information for new artists to the site.
- Granting TurboSquid power of attorney enables us to act on your behalf in the event that your content is being distributed without permission.
Distribution Permissions
- For new sellers, please be sure to read “distribution to Amana Images” thoroughly. For existing sellers who distribute content to Amana Images, by opting out at this point, your assets will be removed immediately from the site. You do have the ability to republish, however they will not be available on the site immediately.
- Allowing content to be distributed for “Trial Purchases” grants thoroughly vetted corporate customers access to download assets prior to purchase.
- The reference to “3D Industry Uses“, formerly referred to as “demo or marketing use”. Opting into this option allows TurboSquid to use your content either for promotions related to driving traffic to TurboSquid.com as well as other 3D related publications.
UPDATED December 16, 2013: A number of questions have been raised relating to Trial Purchase permissions. We’d like to add some clarity (and hopefully put some assumptions to rest in the process)
TurboSquid grants Trial Use account privileges to a very small number of customers who have been thoroughly qualified. Not all accounts are eligible for access to models for Trial Use.
The extremely small number of companies that have requested and have been granted access for trial use are among some of the biggest brands in the world. Use of content downloaded as anything other than trial use is HIGHLY UNLIKELY, as the risk to the company is far greater than the cost of the model. Again, these have proven to be trusted customers. We urge you to consider the potential benefits of allowing content to be downloaded for trial use.
Similarly, there seems to be some confusion over the option to allow 3D Industry Use. The same applies for those organizations that have requested models for 3D Industry Use. This is only extended to established businesses for demonstration purposes. For example, say a large software developer, such as Autodesk are in need of content to demonstrate updates to 3ds Max at a trade show. They are required to credit the artist(s) whose models are being used for this purpose, resulting in increased promotion to a large audience.
3D Industry Use also covers TurboSquid using models to market TurboSquid (such as using models to create content like the Santa Claus pop-up for customers who think items are real). Again, this is free promotion for artists. In the case of the Santa Claus pop-up, we have had customers contact us to specifically request more information about the model used for this campaign.
By opting out, please understand that you may be limiting potential exposure of your work.
To review or make adjustments to your permission settings, please visit the Payment Information area within the Aritst Dashboard on TurboSquid at https://www.turbosquid.com/Seller/Index.cfm (NOTE: you must be logged in to view this page).
Artists Affected Areas
- Moving forward, more information will be required of new artists prior to publishing. While we have always required information to be provided prior to publishing assets through the member signup process, it has become commonplace for other entities that distribute digital assets (i.e stock photography sites) to collect payment information prior to publishing, in an effort to vet the validity of the source.
Changes Customers Can Expect
- As all products will all be marked as “Royalty Free License“, with an additional line of specificity related to use stating either “All Extended Uses” or “Only Editorial Uses”. This will be displayed on each product’s full preview page (as demonstrated in the image below), as well as within the shopping cart.
Feedback, questions, issues
Prior to release, the artist review period brought a number of valid questions, issues and concerns to our attention. Although these documents are now live and in effect, we encourage you to keep the discussion going through the use of the Licenses Forum (which is only viewable by artists).
We will be using the same forum threads for each license document to address questions you may have. Answers to the issues that arise within these threads may also be added to the Royalty Free License FAQ, if deemed necessary.