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Sketchfab Terms of Use: What KitBash Taking Over the Sketchfab Contract Means for Blender Artists Who Upload 3D Models (2026) | Blended BORIS | Digital Art IP

Since 27 October 2026, anyone who uploads a 3D model to Sketchfab has a contract with a new company. The platform's updated Terms of Use name KitBash SF Operations LLC as the party behind Sketchfab, replacing Sketchfab, Inc. It is the second rewrite of the terms since KitBash bought Sketchfab and ArtStation from Epic Games in August. The promise not to use your models for generative AI training stays, but so do the broad licences you give the platform and its new owner.
We compared the new text with the two earlier versions kept by the Internet Archive. The version dated 12 August 2026 swapped Epic Games for KitBash as the affiliate that may use your uploads to build safety and search tools. It also removed the sentence saying new Sketchfab users sign up with Epic Games accounts. The version effective 27 October changes the name at the top of the contract and in the copyright line. The rest of the wording is the same as in August.
For Blender artists, Sketchfab is often the place where portfolio models, embeds and free downloads live side by side. The terms decide who may copy those files, for what, and for how long. We found no public announcement of the October change, so here is what the contract now says, where it protects you, and where it leaves gaps you need to close yourself.
TL;DR: what the new Sketchfab terms mean for Blender artists

Your contract is now with KitBash SF Operations LLC. You still own your models. Sketchfab and KitBash both promise not to use your uploads, or license them to others, for generative AI datasets, training or inputs, whether or not you add the NoAI tag. You still grant Sketchfab a perpetual, irrevocable licence to run and promote the service, and KitBash a perpetual licence for its safety and discovery tools. The NoAI tag is still off by default, and the licence you choose for downloads, such as Creative Commons, decides what other people may do with your files.

What changed in the Sketchfab Terms of Use on 27 October 2026?

The new Sketchfab Terms of Use open with "Effective October 27, 2026" and name KitBash SF Operations LLC as "Sketchfab", "we" or "us". The copyright line now names KitBash SF Operations LLC too. The address for copyright takedown notices had already moved in August, from Sketchfab, Inc. in New York to KitBash SF Operations LLC in West Hollywood, California. One clause about Sketchfab's own content still names Sketchfab, Inc., which looks like a leftover from the old text.
The bigger change came earlier. Under the version effective 11 December 2025, Epic Games was the affiliate that could use your uploads to improve its moderation and recommendation systems, and new users signed up with Epic Games accounts. The 12 August 2026 version put KitBash in Epic's place and dropped the Epic account sentence. The page menu no longer shows the "Buy on Fab" and "Become a Seller on Fab" links that sat there before.
When the sale was announced on 10 August, the Sketchfab team wrote that there were "no changes to how creators and enterprise customers access or use Sketchfab and ArtStation" and that your models and creative work "always belong to you". The ownership part is still true in the terms: Sketchfab does not claim ownership of what you upload. What has changed is the company you would be dealing with in a dispute.

Does KitBash use Sketchfab models to train AI?

Not according to the contract. Section 15 says Sketchfab "will not use your User Content or license your User Content to third parties" for datasets used by generative AI programs, for developing them, or as inputs to them. It applies whether or not you tagged a model NoAI. A separate clause says KitBash does not use user content, or license it to third parties, for training generative AI. These are the same promises Epic made before, now given by the new owner.
There is a difference between generative AI and the automation the terms do allow. Under section 4.2.1(b), Sketchfab and KitBash use your uploads to improve "Safety and Discovery Tools": systems that find illegal content, spam, fraud and fake accounts, and that classify models for search and recommendations. For that purpose you give KitBash a royalty-free, perpetual, worldwide licence that it can sublicense "through multiple tiers". The licence is limited to developing and testing those tools, but it is perpetual.
This is narrower than the crawling rights some platforms now ask for. Compare it with the Meta Commercial Terms clause that lets Meta crawl business websites. Still, a promise in terms of use is only as stable as the next update. The contract lets Sketchfab amend it with one month's notice, and continued use after the effective date counts as acceptance.

What licences do you still give Sketchfab when you upload?

The main licence in section 4.2.1(a) has not changed. By using the service you give Sketchfab a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, fully paid-up, perpetual, irrevocable and sublicensable licence to use, reproduce, display, adapt, modify, reformat and distribute your content "as necessary to provide, improve and promote the Services". You also allow Sketchfab to use your name with publicly shared work.
Such licences are common on hosting platforms, because a site cannot show your model in its 3D viewer without copying it. But "perpetual" and "irrevocable" mean the licence can outlive your upload. If you want to keep exclusive deals open for a model, think about that before you publish the full-resolution version. Our guide to marketplace copyright policies for Blender creators compares these clauses across platforms.
ClauseWho gets whatHow longWhat it means for Blender artists
4.2.1(a) Service licenceSketchfab (KitBash SF Operations LLC) may use, copy, adapt and distribute your uploads to run and promote the servicePerpetual, irrevocableNeeded for the viewer, but it can outlive your upload
4.2.1(b) Safety and Discovery licenceKitBash may copy and modify uploads to build moderation and search tools, with sublicensingPerpetualNot for generative AI, but still a broad internal use
15(a) NoAI tagOther users may not use NoAI-tagged models in AI datasets, development or inputsWhile the terms applyOff by default: you must switch it on yourself
15(a) and 15(c) AI promiseSketchfab and KitBash will not use or license uploads for generative AIUntil the terms changeApplies with or without the NoAI tag
4.2.2 Free downloadsDownloaders get the licence you picked, such as a Creative Commons licenceAs the licence saysA CC licence travels with the file, wherever it goes
12 AmendmentsSketchfab may change the terms after one month's noticeOngoingCheck the terms page and your email for notices
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Why is the NoAI tag on Sketchfab still off by default?

The terms say so plainly: the NoAI tag "will not be applied to your uploads or your User Content by default", and you must switch it on yourself. Once it is on, other users may not collect, scrape or use that model in AI datasets, AI development or as AI inputs. ArtStation, which KitBash bought in the same deal, went the other way in September. As 80 Level reported on 3 September, ArtStation turned NoAI on by default for new projects and applied it to existing ones, saying: "Artists should not have to opt in to ask us to safeguard their work."
Why does the tag matter on Sketchfab if the platform already promises not to train on your work? Because the promise binds Sketchfab and KitBash, not everyone who downloads your models. In the Roblox case covered in our report on the NoAI tag ruling, a federal judge accepted, at the pleading stage, that a Sketchfab NoAI tag can plausibly count as copyright management information, while still dismissing the claims with leave to amend. A tag you never switched on cannot help you in that kind of argument.
The bigger risk is the licence you choose. Free Sketchfab downloads use either Sketchfab's own licence agreement or a Creative Commons licence, and the terms make you "solely responsible" for that choice. Large AI datasets have been built from openly licensed Sketchfab models: Objaverse, which we described in our article on the Hi3D open-source 3D generator, lists more than 800,000 objects collected through Sketchfab's public API. How a NoAI tag interacts with a permissive Creative Commons licence has not been settled by a court, as far as we know.

Who do you deal with if something goes wrong?

For takedowns, nothing practical changes: copyright notices still go to dmca@sketchfab.com, and the terms keep the US notice-and-counter-notice procedure. The legal home of the contract also stayed the same. Outside the EU, disputes are governed by North Carolina law and go to individual arbitration in Raleigh, with a class action waiver. If you live in the EU, the arbitration and class waiver do not apply, and the law of your country of residence governs.
What has changed is the counterparty. If you ever need to enforce the AI promise, or challenge a removal, the company on the other side is KitBash SF Operations LLC. Save a copy of the terms as they read today, with the date, so you can show what you agreed to if the text changes again. Contract details also decided where stock contributors stood in Getty Images' Chapter 11 case.
Labels are part of the deal too. If a material part of a model was made with generative AI, the terms require the CreatedWithAI label, and uploads through AI integrations may be labelled automatically. Upscaling and similar tools do not count. That matches the direction we described in our article on the Steam AI disclosure fight: platforms want provenance, and honest artists benefit when they can show how their work was made.

What should Blender artists on Sketchfab do now?

  1. Save the current terms. Download or print the Terms of Use effective 27 October 2026 and keep them with the date.
  2. Switch on NoAI. The tag is off by default on Sketchfab. Turn it on for every model you do not want in AI datasets, and check older uploads.
  3. Review your download licences. A Creative Commons licence lets others reuse a model widely. Our guide to Creative Commons versus copyright for Blender assets helps you choose.
  4. Publish previews, not masters. Upload a viewer-ready version and keep full-resolution .blend files, textures and source sculpts offline.
  5. Opt out elsewhere too. Follow our steps to opt out of AI training datasets and the sister blog's AI dataset opt-out strategies.
  6. Label AI work honestly. Use CreatedWithAI where a material part was generated, so a mislabel cannot be used against you.
  7. Spread your portfolio. Do not rely on one platform. Our portfolio guide for Blender artists and 3D marketplace fee comparison show the options.
  8. Keep dated proof. Timestamp your working files before you publish, so you can prove authorship if a copy appears. If it does, our DMCA takedown guide for Blender artists walks you through the notice.

Where does this fit in the bigger picture?

Platform terms are becoming one of the main ways AI training is controlled, because laws are still catching up. A 3D model is automatically protected by copyright in most countries, as explained in our guide to whether 3D models have copyright, but a licence you accept can give away more than you notice. The sister blog covers artists' rights in AI training and how to protect art from AI training.
Our sister sites looked this week at who can reach design data, and on what terms.

Conclusion

The Sketchfab terms effective 27 October 2026 complete the move from Epic Games to KitBash. Your ownership and the promise against generative AI training survive the change, and that is good news. The broad perpetual licences, the opt-in NoAI tag and your own licence choices also survive. For Blender artists, the practical lesson is to treat any platform as a shop window: switch on the protections it offers, choose download licences with care, keep the masters at home, and hold your own dated proof of what you made.
Your models, your dates, your proof.

BlendedBoris adds a blockchain timestamp to your Blender work from inside Blender, giving you dated proof of authorship to use alongside platform tags, licences and copyright registrations.

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FAQ: the new Sketchfab Terms of Use and Blender artists

Who runs Sketchfab under the new terms?

The Terms of Use effective 27 October 2026 name KitBash SF Operations LLC as the company behind Sketchfab. KitBash bought Sketchfab and ArtStation from Epic Games, announced on 10 August 2026.

Do I still own the models I upload to Sketchfab?

Yes. The terms say you remain the owner of your content and Sketchfab claims no ownership. You do grant Sketchfab and KitBash licences to use the content for running the service and for safety and discovery tools.

Will Sketchfab or KitBash train AI on my models?

The terms say neither will use your content, or license it to third parties, for generative AI datasets, development or inputs. That applies whether or not your model carries the NoAI tag.

Is the NoAI tag on by default on Sketchfab?

No. The terms say the tag is not applied by default and you must switch it on yourself. ArtStation, owned by the same company, made NoAI the default in September 2026.

Does the NoAI tag stop people who download my free models?

The terms forbid users to put NoAI-tagged content into AI datasets. But a Creative Commons licence you chose also travels with the file, and how the two interact has not been tested in court as far as we know.

Can Sketchfab change the terms again?

Yes. The terms allow amendments with one month's notice to registered users, and using the service after the change counts as accepting it. Save dated copies so you can compare versions.

How can BlendedBoris help?

BlendedBoris records a blockchain timestamp of your Blender work from inside Blender. That gives you dated proof of authorship that does not depend on any platform, alongside tags, licences and registrations.
2026-10-30 16:47 News