Thanks for all of your support and love for our Exclusive Model Program! We’ve already seen many exciting models that has been uploaded as or switched to Exclusive Model.
Of course, there are many questions and concerns all of you may share with our current rules, and we are here to provide some feedback and answers regarding some of the most frequently asked questions.
Regarding our licensing requirements: The Standard Digital File License ensures that our Exclusive Models and 14-Day Exclusive Models are protected from unauthorized use by third parties, thereby maximizing the protection of our Creator’s intellectual property rights. Users are free to access and use Exclusive Models per the Standard Digital File License granted by our creators.
For existing models hoping to enter the program, creators need to change the license of the models to Standard Digital File License before entering the program, again, to ensure our models are protected from unauthorized use by third parties and eliminate the risk of being re-uploaded to other platforms without authorization.
Changing the license doesn’t impact the rights of those who downloaded or remixed the model earlier. When related disputes occur, we may require proof of the download or remix date and the license used.
Some of you are concerned with selling commercial license after entering our Exclusive Model Program and setting your models as Standard Digital File Licenses. We have heard your needs and are working on setting up our commercial licensing services as soon as possible to meet the various needs of our community.
We want to remind you of our quality standards for Exclusive Models. This program is about offering top-notch models to our users. If you’re unsure about our expectations, please review our Exclusive Model Guidelines. Models that don’t meet our standards will be removed from the program, and intentionally submitting low-quality models will result in point deductions and a ban from future participation.
Our progam is still in the pilot phase and may have some shortcomings and things that need to be fixed or adjusted. If you have any further questions or advice regarding our Exclusive Program, let us know in the comments and we will answer them as quickly as possible. Thanks!
Regarding point 5, is there a way to report low-quality models that are listed under this system, to bring them to MakerWorld’s attention? I had a quick look & none of the existing reporting options seem suitable.
For existing models, you can only join the Exclusive Model Program.
The 14-day Exclusive Model Program is designated for new models that have never been published on any websites before and would like to premiere-launch on MakerWorld.
Yeah on rule 5 you might want to make that a bit more clear or more difficult to enter. Just scrolling through new uploads I’ve seen quiet a few people are entering their entire catalog (100+profiles) going back a year plus.
I understand that you want to protect users’ models from unauthorized copying after they’ve been marked as “exclusive to MakerWorld”. However, you can’t do this in cases where CC licenses have already been granted, allowing the distribution of the model. Objects under a CC license are not ephemeral.
A step-by-step example:
Model AAA is released under CC license ABC.
Model AAA is distributed on platforms X, Y, and Z under CC license ABC.
The license for Original of Model AAA is changed to the MW Standard License.
Model AAA is now exclusively reserved for MakerWorld and, according to MakerWorld, may no longer be distributed under CC license ABC!
And then this happens:
Model AAA is distributed on platform A under CC license ABC.
Model AAA is distributed on platform B under CC license ABC.
Model AAA is distributed on platform C under CC license ABC.
And each time it’s the same Model AAA. There is no difference between Model AAA from step #1 and Model AAA from step #7. It’s exactly the same model and possibly an exact copy.
You can’t do anything about it because CC licenses are irrevocable. If the original CC license allowed commercial use, you can’t do anything about future commercial use of the model. The subsequent change of the license for the original model, which was under a CC license, is also ineffective regarding existing copies.
Summary
Ineffectiveness of license change: Once a CC license has been granted, it is irrevocable. A subsequent change to an exclusive MakerWorld license has no legal effect on models that have already been distributed.
Identity of the model: The model remains identical, regardless of the platform on which it is located or the license under which it is offered there.
Inability to control: MakerWorld cannot prevent the distribution of models under the original CC license once they have been published.
This provides a loophole that can be exploited to misuse the MakerWorld exclusive program.
I recently joined the Exclusive Model Program and I’m wondering how to manage the models I’ve already uploaded to other platforms. Do I need to remove them to comply with the program’s exclusivity terms? Does the exclusivity apply only to new models, or to existing ones as well?
As the creator, I believe I should have the right to publish them wherever I want, but are there any limitations now that I’ve joined the program?
I’d appreciate any clarification or experiences from those who have faced a similar situation. Thanks!
We are working on solutions to remove low effort and low quality hueforges and other 2D models from the program. They will definitely be removed as they certainly does not meet the expectations we have for our Exclusive Model. We kindly ask for some patience while working on this. Thanks!
If you join something and agree your models are EXCLUSIVELY on Maker World (MW), you are agreeing to remove them from all other locations.
No one requires that you make any model Exclusive.
You can leave the, all exactly as they are.
But, as with a relationship, you can’t say you are exclusive whilst dating one or more other people.
Yes, you have told MW that you want better rewards in exchange for only hosting those models on MW. You are now required to remove all other copies of the models on all other platforms.
It is all in the terms you agreed to and the very definition of the word Exclusive.
Thank you for your clear and detailed explanation regarding the Exclusive Model Program. I now have a better understanding of what it means to be exclusive on Maker World and how it affects the publishing of models.
It’s true that the conditions of exclusivity involve some compromises, but I appreciate the opportunity to receive better rewards in return. I will be sure to keep all of this in mind for my future decisions.
One bit of problem is that guidelines are subjective rather than objective. The example models are literally contest winners so they already have been judged to be exceptional by subjective opinion of judges. The positive language in guidelines encourages submission leaving judging quality to the user. There are also suggestions for interaction, promotion, maintenance and updates - out of which I think interaction and promotion can be quantified.
I’d recommend you to tighten down the language of the guidelines and requirements making them less subjective and more objective. Good example of objective guideline is how you clearly defined that render/screenshot cannot be cover image. Make sure to add examples of models that fit the guidelines and models that would be of decent quality but not fit for exclusive program.
For interaction and promotion - you have data on users interaction in comments/rating, so based on interaction history you can auto-reject users that aren’t interacting on minimal level (and you have to define that level) on previous submissions (at least in a timeframe… I guess for people with loads of models over time constant interaction with users would take way too much time so it has to be objective but achievable). You also could request users add social media links and proofs if you’d want to go that way but that might discourage some people (or some people don’t use social media) so that point about promotion would have to be reworded. Currently there’s little way for creators to promote on MakerWorld itself.
Regarding licencing for exclusive models - I think you are a bit too lenient allowing models which switched licences. It creates a burden for later. You should just require the model is “standard file licence” from the get go and clearly require that the model is not hosted outside of MW in publicly accessible way (and thus non-exclusive)
There are definitely some useful suggestions you offered that we will apply soon, once our guideline is updated we will let you guys know. Thanks a lot for the great advice!
Without an extremely clear set of guidelines every time y’all remove a model from the exclusive program it’s going to result in a forum post here arguing why their model is actually qualifying. I expect (police) quarrels due to the vagueness.
As these guidelines evolve it might be helpful to let users remove their own models as to not be in violation.
I probably over submitted a handful of my models in the excitement of seeing new features - I won’t be the only one.
Honestly there’s no chance people will follow the guidelines when there’s no restriction or real consequence if they get tagged (and that’s a big IF). History repeats itself, we haven’t found a solution to the printed evidence issue and I scrolled through pages of “exclusive” rubbish today. Honour systems won’t work here, nah.
The issue was about exclusivity. I was unable to revert a model’s status. So, I submitted a ticket to request this change. I believe that models previously distributed under a CC license cannot participate in the MW Exclusive program.
One note - in the “removed from exclusive program” notification you’ve got it says “due to violation of the rules” but you haven’t violated the rules since you honestly followed them by converting the model’s licence, applying for exclusive and then requesting to be removed. Hopefully despite “violation” notification it won’t be seen negatively.
And indeed a model that got converted from CC to Standard shouldn’t be able to participate in exclusive due to problems associated with double licencing, timelines etc.
