Which licences are accepted, and why
The zoo exists so that anyone can download a model, change it, and share it again. That only works under licences that allow modified copies to be redistributed, so only four kinds of model are accepted.
This page explains the project's rules in plain language. It is not legal advice; the licence texts linked below are what actually apply.
Permitted licences
CC0 1.0
Public-domain dedicationThe author gave up their rights. Use it for anything, with no credit required (crediting is still good manners).
CC-BY 4.0
AttributionUse, change and share for any purpose, including commercial, as long as you credit the author, link the licence and say what you changed.
CC-BY-SA 4.0
Attribution, ShareAlikeSame as CC-BY, but anything you build from it must be shared under the same licence (or a compatible one).
Own work
Released by its authorModels made by the contributor, released under CC0 or CC-BY. The submission says which, and the contributor confirms the work is their own.
What you can do with a model
| Action | CC0 | CC-BY | CC-BY-SA | Own work |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Download and use in simulation or training data | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Modify (split parts, rescale, change materials) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Reshare your modified version | Yes | With credit | Under CC-BY-SA | As the author chose |
| Use commercially | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Re-upload to another site (for example Sketchfab) | Yes | With credit | With credit, same licence | Yes |
What we do not accept
Preparing a model for thermal simulation changes it: it is rescaled, split into parts, renamed and given new materials. A licence that forbids modified copies, or forbids commercial use, cannot be honoured by a shared library that people reuse freely.
Non-commercial (NC)
Any CC-BY-NC variant. Users of a public library cannot be assumed to be non-commercial.
Rejected at intakeNo-derivatives (ND)
CC-BY-ND allows sharing only unchanged and whole. Splitting a model into parts is a change.
Rejected at intakeMarketplace licences
Standard or royalty-free licences from model stores (for example Sketchfab Standard, TurboSquid, CGTrader) forbid redistributing the model as a file.
Rejected at intakeNo licence, or unknown
No stated licence means all rights are reserved. Models ripped from games, simulators or CAD sites fall here.
Rejected at intakeCredit travels with the files
Every download should include an ATTRIBUTION.md naming the author, the original link, the licence and what was changed. Each model page also shows a one-line credit you can copy.
The same fields are published in data/models.json, so tools can read them too.
# ATTRIBUTION
Model: "Example Quadrotor" (original title)
Author: Example Author (https://example.com/profile)
Source: https://example.com/original-model
Licence: CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Changes: Rescaled to metres; split into 5 parts;
per-part thermal materials added.
Modified: Thermal Model Zoo, 2026If something here is yours
If a model was added without your permission, has the wrong licence or credit, or you simply want it removed, tell us. The listing and its files are taken down first and the question is looked into afterwards.
- Open a takedown request (link on the right) and name the model and the original work.
- The listing is removed from the catalogue.
- Files hosted elsewhere are unlinked, and the maintainer asks that host to remove them if the files were uploaded by us.
- If the report was a mistake, the entry is restored with corrected credit.
Report a problem
flagOpen a takedown requestRequests are public GitHub issues. If you would rather not post publicly, say so in a short issue with no details and the maintainer will arrange another way to reach you.