Battlecry of the uneducated? I have a degree. Copyright owner? Nope. When someone gives away a work, it is considered in the public domain. It would be a different case if the model were stolen from a site, but the models are given away, i.e. placed in public domain. Giving away a model and placing it in the "Free Stuff" category of downloads is making a clear statement that it is public domain. You insist on complaining about bandwidth... would you be happier if he actually placed the model on HIS site for download? No? Then bandwidth is not your issue. You are only using that as a crutch. As for the arguement.. "what if I want to offer it for free this week and sell it next week?"... Well, you gave it away. By placing it in the public domain you can sure as heck sell it, but you can't claim exclusive rights to something you gave up exclusive rights to. Daz gives away their free models... but when they pull them off their site and offer them on CD they don't expect you to delete your copy that you downloaded for free, and then run out and ask you to erase the image of their model from all of your renderings. Do they? It's simple, if you want to sell something, sell it. If you want exclusive rights to something, don't label it "FREE STUFF!" - As far as the news example above - Fair Use laws should cover that in the United States - Newspapers regularly run stories written by other papers without permission and are basically immune from copyright laws. Newspapers also can run anyone's photograph without their permission in reporting, as long as their stories are not slander or libel. It's an extension of Freedom of the Press (First and Fourteenth amendments of the US constitution) If I do a painting or take a photograph that I don't want passed around on the net, I take the common sense approach and don't post it. I think the "Battlecry of the uneducated" is more likely some phrase originating in some pro-censorship thought legislating fiasco such as moralityinmedia or in our current republican-led Orwellian administrations proclivity to legislate free thought, free trade, and free exchange of information.