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3DBenchy, an iconic 3D printer benchmark model, has been relicensed under CC0, accompanied by an announcment that the model is “public domain” now. The change sheds the model’s previous CC-BY-ND 4.0 “no derivatives” license that was at the center of some controversy in January when users 3DBenchy remixes were suddenly removed from Printables for license enforcement.

NTI Group, who gained the rights to the 3DBency model when it acquired Creative Tools in 2024 (where the model’s creators, Paulo Kiefe and Daniel Norée, worked at its inception), was initially accused of enforcing the license but told All3DP it had taken no such action and had no plans to monetize the benchmark; Printables then confirmed the enforcement was the result of a third-party report.

Though 3DBenchy’s license prohibited derivatives, the model quickly evolved beyond the benchmark it was designed to be in the 3D printing community, becoming a cultural cornerstone with large communities like Reddit-based r/cursedbenchies dedicated to remixing the model. Though technically the remixes violated 3DBenchy’s original license, Creative Tools never enforced the no derivatives clause, presumably because the remixes never violated the spirit of the license, which Kiefe told All3DP in a 2015 interview was to “make sure the same version of 3DBenchy is used when people compare 3D printers, materials and settings” – thus preserving the model’s value as a benchmark.

Following January’s controversy, there were calls to update the model’s license. NTI Group has now obliged, announcing the change in a news-style article on its website. The 3DBenchy model’s license has now been updated to reflect the change to a CC0 license on Thingiverse and 3dbenchy.com.

The article also announces that the website www.3dbenchy.com and its associated social media accounts, which NTI Group gained as part of the Creative Tools acquisition, are now entrusted to Kiefe and Norée with a stipulation that “3DBenchy remains publicly available to all”.

3DBenchy turns 10 years old on April 9, 2025, and NTI Group says to mind the 3DBenchy website for “a special surprise” to commemorate the occasion.

Update February 14, 2025: Better specified the distinction between public domain and the CC0 license.

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License: The text of "3DBenchy Is ‘Public Domain’ Now" by All3DP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.