10/08/2026
First, Good morning and Happy Thursday! It's another gorgeous autumn day here. 🍂🍂
I know you've all seen this post over the last few days. I've had a busy week outside of my studio, so I haven't had the time to sit and gather my thoughts. A member of the private group did share it there and it resulted in a good discussion, so I thought I'd bring it here too.
We all know theft is bad and is also rampant in the 3d world. It's nothing new and it's getting worse. Not only does this harm the original creator of the design but the ease of which it can happen muddies the waters for digital sculptors. Why put a ton of hours into a digital sculpt when someone will just use your photo, shove it through ai, rip it off and sell it as their own.
The other side of this is the person that uses prompts to make a shape but doesn't have the experience to check their anatomy, meshes, and even to just see if the file makes sense. They put it out there cheap; people buy it then run into constant print failures. Sites such as Cults3D have so many equine and animal files that say “no Ai” but I can absolutely tell that it’s not the case.
Many artists won’t touch 3D prints due to past quality issues—a standard we work constantly to elevate. But now, creators also have to worry about file legitimacy. Those that pump out bad files and/or steal from others, drag the trust that we've built with our 3d printing services back to the beginning again.
No one makes a living in a bubble. We're all interconnected and need community. This is my full-time job, so I take file sourcing, printing, and customer service seriously. But I do fear that the ease of Ai and theft will make it so difficult that we're going to lose our digital sculptors as well as our traditional sculptors that want to get their clay scanned in for scaling and production. I so badly want to add a scanning service, but that trust is getting harder to maintain because of the rise of bad players.
As a producer, I have to find a balance of giving my clients what they want and respecting the time and expertise of the digital sculptors that I work closely with.
Discussion questions:
1) Have you noticed Ai generated 3d models popping up in your feeds and how does it affect where you decide to buy?
2) What helps you decide whether a seller or printer is using legitimate and licensed files.
3) If you’re a traditional materials sculptor, does the threat of Ai or digital theft make you hesitant to get your physical sculpt scanned?
4) For digital sculptors, what measures or community support would help you feel more secure in sharing and selling your work?
5)How do we as a community balance using new technology without sacrificing ethics, quality, and respect for the artists?
Extremely disheartened to have to make this post, but I was made aware by a fellow hobbyist that someone has made a copy of Emerado and is selling 3D prints of him.
Elena Shulatieva (Елена Шульятьева) has copied my original sculpture almost exactly. I did not use any single reference for Emerado, and no references for the mane and tail, so to be such an exact copy cannot be a coincidence in this case.
I have not sent or posted the 3D file anywhere, it exists solely on my in-home local server, and casts have not been sent out yet, so I can only assume this was likely copied via AI from the photos I have posted of him. This is why AI is SO damaging to artists and why I am very strongly against any use of it. AI or not, it is still scummy to copy someone else's work to try and make money off of it!
Given this person is in Russia, there is nothing I can do but post a PSA saying not to buy from this person as it is stolen work.
