Can I print and sell 3D models licensed under CC BY-SA?

Question

Can I print and sell 3D models licensed under CC BY-SA? I am selling something that has a CC-BY-SA license.

Answer 1

Yes, you can - but the license requires you provide the correct attribution and distribute your prints under the same license - and that does specifically include allowing creation of derivative works and remixes.

Probably the best approach would be to provide a label that identifies you (the author of the derivative), the original author of the model, and a link to the 3D model (your version if you modify the original project; author's if you print as-is) alongside with Creative Commons license tag and link to the license.

(or whichever version of CC the author uses; you can't "upgrade to newest" willy-nilly under the share-alike rules).

Make the label also available alongside any sales listing (a photo of the print is still a derivative work of it!). While providing a link to the original 3D model could be argued not to be mandatory, it will be keeping up with the spirit of the license instead of trying to bend the rules. Such link will allow your customers for easier remixing than 'break your physical print and kit-bash it with other pieces of plastic' which going by the license "as written" would be the only way they can utilize their right to remix.