License rights and altering assets - can I?

[jumpingjack]

Hi folks,
First off - just to make it clear - I do NOT want to resell assets after altering them.

What I want to know is, if I pay for assets from the asset store, do I have the rights to modify them and use them commercially (presuming that they don’t have a special agreement/license that clearly says not to)

What I’d like to do is buy assets for things I can’t do myself (mainly creating the 3d objects/meshes, animations and textures), modify them (such as re-skinning a model or just changing the mesh slightly to fit my needs), create my game, and then sell it from a website, or put it out for free.

I have read the agreement, but my mind started to blur with all the details.
Is this use within the agreement?

The second part of the question is the actual use. The agreement states use of assets within a game or interactive media.
What if I buy a model, modify it, re-skin it, and want to use it as a prominent game character? I’d want to feature it on my website and in related artwork/screenshots, not just in the game itself.

I just thought I’d check this, so that I can seek alternative ways to have the models created if this is a problem.

Thank you for your patience!

[Julien-Lynge]

First off, if you’re looking for a legal opinion - if you’re worried about being sued - you really do need to talk to a lawyer. We on UnityAnswers don’t work for Unity, and so we can’t give you legal advice, as that creates liability for us. Sorry, but the only response for “do I have the legal right to do X?” is “contact a lawyer.”

Second, if this is a question of what’s ethical, Unity Answers isn’t the right forum for that. UA is for technical Q&A, while the forums are the right place for a back and forth discussion that may not have a “right” answer.

However, what you seem to be asking is “are there generally going to be problems if I do this?”, or perhaps “how does the community handle this?”. To that, my answer is:

When you purchase an asset on the asset store, it’s understood that you might use the asset as is, modify it, use part of it, take it apart and use pieces, etc. It’s also understood that you are going to be creating a product with all or part of that asset and making money from it. If you’re not going to be putting something derived from it up on the asset store, or using it in a way that’s competing with the creator, they really aren’t going to care what you do. Even if you were technically violating the TOS, they would have to hire a lawyer to come after you, and who wants to do that if there’s no gain?

You were also wondering about related uses, like promotional materials for games. It’s standard industry practice to create marketing from materials in your game, so I wouldn’t worry. Facts on the ground actually have fairly significant weight in a court of law (in my limited experience), and it would be hard to argue misuse. I think that as long as all your uses are within the sphere of interactive media - on websites hosting the media for sale, for instance, you would be doing no different than anyone else using the asset store and therefore just as safe as anyone else.