I just found this thread, and it's been a surprise to me. I recently uploaded some Bryce freebies as "non-commercial" and got complaints from the forums over at DAZ3D (word got around) saying that they wouldn't be able to use the items in a render competition being run over there. I couldn't understand it, but looking at the comments above, I can now.

When I started with Bryce3D in the 1990s, my understanding, and the general understanding in forums I used then, was that the non-commercial tag meant that the components being sold (meshes, textures, poses, sky or lighting rigs, etc.) remained the property of the seller and could not themselves be sold on, or re-distributed in any other way, but that images, animations or image derivatives (patterns, logos, etc.) made using the components were the work of the buyer, and were the buyer's to sell or distribute, as long as there was no way of extracting the original components from the item being sold. From this thread it seems as if the general understanding is changing now - although I see that Rendo is still crediting gallery image copyright to the image maker, not to the maker(s) of the components used.

Maybe we need a clarification of this from Rendo and other sites involved? The TOS and copyright policy pages aren't helpful (as far as my patience in reading went, anyway).

My reason for using the non-commercial tag on the freebies was that I couldn't trace the provenance for two flower pictures I'd used years ago to make Bryce MATs. They were 90% likely to have been from some of my old photos, but I didn't want to risk distributing anything that I couldn't prove was mine along with permission to sell it on, which could put the receiver at risk as well.

Copyright law seems far more complicated now - and certainly more aggressive - and if good-faith community activities like competitions and freebies aren't going end up being stifled, I think it's important that we have a clear and simple definition of what "commercial" and "non-commercial" tags mean in terms of images, animations, etc. created from the products that we buy, sell or give away. So I've put the gist of this post in an email and sent it to copyright@renderosity.com, asking if they can respond. I'll let you know if I get a reply.

I've also got a couple of potential freebies (3D models) that were inspired by games, but are sitting on disk because I'm too scared to upload them for fear of infringement. I may change them to look less recognisable and upload them anyway, but I wouldn't feel happy about labeling these as commercial either, as it's still potentially passing on a risk.