Not trying to put a downer on things or making accusations here...lets be straight about this off the bat. Some know the score, some are new users and unaware.



When posting free models for download it is more acceptable to give full details of where you got them, if you made them yourself etc. If you didn't make them yourself then you MUST have permission from the original creator.



This is not to protect you, it's to protect users who take them and use them in their games only to find they are slapped with a desist notice or worse....at the very least they have wasted a lot of time. It's also to protect TGC who would find this site shut down if it became known as a repository for unofficial media and as a company they would the ones they go after since this site is their responsibility.



If you are going to post free models for download you must include licensing info, whether it's commercial or non-commercial etc, if you made it yourself then say so and state what your license terms are, without this you could change your mind later and say it was never meant for commercial use.



Some users have been around long enough to be Leary about using models put up without any license and it could mean your model never being used at all, which would be a shame after all your work and generosity in providing to folks around here.

In general once you have been around long enough and folks get to know you, you can relax a little about this.



The golden rule is....if you didn't make it or any part of it wasn't created by you mesh, textures or otherwise....then don't release it without saying where you got it and include the original creator's licensing info.

Usually you will find its free use but this won't include redistribution.



This goes for Reloaded stock media too, you cant just post models assuming everyone has them so it's all ok. Retextures can be acceptable but should not include any part of the original texture, changing saturation isn't enough, if in doubt you should PM a mod and ask first.

Now i would suggest to ppl to use the widely know creative commons



lets say you want attribution or you want to give it to the public domain...



http://creativecommons.org/choose/



go ahead and check it out, select the license that fits from your view and add a license disclaimer taht states that you are releasing your assets under this license.



This ensures that ppl who eventually use your freely given models

can be sure that they are using it under that license.

I would suggest anyone looking for models use http://tf3dm.com/ as rolfy says look and see if you are aloud to use it or contact them most are ok as they are modeled by people who don't charge or want to make money from others. i know this doesn't help the people who are on here to make money from doing models but not everyone wants to spent £££ on models.

i woudl advice against sites like these,

they have ripped models and this would end up in a violation.





If you want to look for free usable models

look at



http://www.blendswap.com/



http://opengameart.org/

yea if they are ripped you can still use them for personal use as you may own the game but i suppose your right just be clear on the ones you use and you should be ok but thanks for they links im sure they will help me and others.



Also With public domain images you're free to use them in any way you see fit

Just to be absolutely clear though, if you distribute this game in any way,even to friends it doesn't need to be commercial, you would be in violation.



Although it can sometimes be a grey area with licensing it is always better to play safe



It is the same TOS and same mods around here and some have found themselves with an instant perma-ban when caught distributing ripped media.

Good advice, thanks Rolfy.