A lot of us use models we have bought, downloaded as freebies, or that our friends have made to create our 3D artwork. This is particularly an issue for those of us who use Poser and Daz|Studio, but it's not exclusively a Poser/D|S issue by any means. Some of us credit bought models in our artist's descriptions on our art for various reasons, and for various reasons some don't. However, a little while ago someone asked me what dA's actual rules were on the subject of crediting 3D models.

DISCLAIMER: this is my opinion and interpretation, and not meant to be official dA policy or legal advice or anything like that in any way. Don't try to use "But `joannastar said it was okay" as a defence for anything, because I didn't

You need to have permission to use everything you put in your image.
- Whether this is a licence you downloaded with a product you bought, or a statement on a website giving permisson, or whatever, you can't just use say images you found on google for textures without permission, or in a case I once saw, you could download a model of a car but you were only allowed to use it for a very specific list of things which specifically excluded uploading to sites like dA. Make sure you have permission.

You need to be able to prove that you have permission, if the HelpDesk asks for it.
- If someone accuses you of copyright theft, dA's help desk may ask you to prove that you have permission to use models etc in your deviation.

You are only REQUIRED to credit in the artist's description if the licence you have requires you to.
- For example, most textures on dA are free, but almost all of it requires that you link back to the resource provider. However, most commercial licences do not require you to credit models.

However, it's a good idea to credit even when you are not forced to anyway:
For reasons of artistic integrity. It's better to be open and honest about what you did and how you created your art, so you don't take credit for things you didn't do, but you do take full credit for your own awesomeness.
Someone may see a model they recognise and report it to the helpdesk; you will be fine if you can then provide them with your licence but it's hassle that you can easily avoid with proper credit.
If someone is trying to give you critique on how to improve the image and your skills, it's pointless for them to say "great model, but you could have improved it by redoing the UV map to blah blah blah and adding a few more polys here and here..." if you didn't make the model and have no way to modify it.

Personally, I always try to credit everything in my artwork for the reasons above. I don't want it to seem like I'm an awesome modeller when I'm not, but on the other hand, putting lots of diverse elements together to make a coherent whole is a skill and not as easy as it may look.

Further Reading

• dA's Copyright Policy


• FAQ #217: What are "Stock and Resources" and can I use them in my submissions?


• Help and FAQ: Copyright Concerns


• Help and FAQ: Permission Issues

Suggest a 3D DD
You can suggest anything to me, as long as:
The deviation is a digital 3D image, in the Digital > 3D Gallery
The artist hasn't received one in the last 3 months
You may suggest yourself.

Please send me a note titled "DD Suggestion", and put your suggestion in as a thumb (copy the :thumb123456: code from the side of the artist's description).

It's not compulsory, but I'd really appreciate an explanation of why you think the piece is DD worthy.

FAQ #61: What is a Daily Deviation?
FAQ #18: Who selects Daily Deviations and how are they chosen?
FAQ #873: What do I do when I disapprove of a Daily Deviation feature?