Important notes concerning the distribution of "Game Ripped" 3d content.

When you extract a 3d model from a game to use in Pepakura, always credit the owner of the mesh. It doesn't matter if you have altered the mesh to work better with pep. Crediting the owner shows that you do not claim ownership of the 3d content. This does not mean that the owner will not contact the website to have the content removed.

Game rip credit example:
Do not attempt to profit from extracted content whether it is modified or not. It doesn't matter if you intend to charge only for the work that you performed. This is considered derivative and you are not protected by "Fair Use".

DMCA takedown is not a foundation for liability.
If a website receives a DMCA takedown notice, that doesn't mean that the site is liable for infringement. The site can refuse to remove the content until it is deemed that the content infringes on copyright, intellectual property, etc. by a court.
Takedown notices targeting a competing business made up over half (57%) of the notices Google has received, and more than one-third (37%), were not valid copyright claims.

In short, this post is to inform you to protect yourself, this website, and the website in which the files that you are linking are stored. Give credit where credit is due.

I encourage anyone that has posted game-rips to go back and edit their post to include a credit to the developer. If you have links to large archives of files with various authors, it is a good idea to state that you are not the creator of that content.

It would be a shame if this and/or other similar sites were shut down due to infringement claims.

Actually I was jus wondering about this. What if you make the model yourself out of self-taken refence images, but still distribute it for free? I imagine that's ok, but then I see people selling their helmets and armor they made...Is that even legal?

If the item in question is "iconic" like for instance, Darth Vader's helmet, then it is not legal unless you have permission from the owner. This is a big issue for propmakers and court decisions have swung both ways. This is why I strongly suggest crediting the owner/author. It shows that you do not intend to take credit or collect money for property that is not yours. Intellectual property includes an object or character likeness. "Fan art" is generally regarded as "fair use", but if the likeness is depicted in a manner that may be considered offensive, then "fair use" does not apply.

One-off's or small batch runs don't usually grab the attention of license owners. This is why sites such as this and the RPF are still around. When you create a business that sells unlicensed replicas, then you will get in to trouble.

Let me give you an example. My avatar, even though I created it in photoshop, is not my intellectual property. It is not (to my knowledge) a registered trademark, but it is part of the game content. If Bioware/EA decides that I am infringing on intellectual property, trademark, copyright, etc., they can force me to remove it and the courts will support them. This scenario is very unlikely, but things like this have happened. A few years ago, Google had to change their image search script to omit known copyrighted images.

One thing that I did not mention in my original post. There is no such thing as "International Copyright Law". Each nation governs itself. Courts from different countries can try an individual for copyright infringement that occurred in another country, but if the laws of that country do not prohibit specific aspects of the allegations, the propmaker will win. Example

Feel free to correct me if I am wrong, I do not have a law degree. If there are any legal minds here, please speak up and verify, or negate my statements.

First off, that sig is hilarious!

Second...
To your knowledge, do non professional consumer prop makers like Volpin and Punished Props have to contact the publisher each time they take a commission?