Hey there, Civitai community! We've got some important updates about Stable Diffusion 3 (SD3) and its place on our platform. Grab a cup of coffee (or tea, we don't judge), and let's dive into the latest developments. There's a lot to unpack here, so buckle up!
TLDR: SD3 is unbanned
Stability AI has addressed the largest concerns that we had with the license previously associated with SD3. The new license isn't perfect, but the risk associated with having it allowed on the site has been minimized and so we're lifting our ban. We won't be getting an enterprise license at this time and so we can't offer SD3 generations on-site. We know the creators within this community are capable of making models great, and we look forward to seeing whether they choose to invest in the SD3 ecosystem or some other open-source model ecosystem.
Happy or Unhappy about it? Vote with your creative energy by creating using the ecosystem you think best aligns with your interests.
The Good News: License Concerns Addressed
First off, a sigh of relief: Stability AI has updated their community license, addressing many of the concerns we previously raised. Let's break down the changes:
Derivative Works
The prior license considered anything trained on SD3 outputs, including LoRAs and fine-tunes of other foundational models like SDXL, to be "Derivative Works" and granted Stability rights over them. Now, things trained on SD3 outputs are no longer considered "Derivative Works." This means we don't need to worry about the SD3 license spreading to non-SD3 models. Phew!
Stability AI's Future
When we initially banned SD3, Stability AI's future was uncertain, with many key employees (including the CEO) having left. We were worried about who might end up with the rights to the model. Now, Stability AI has a new CEO and funding. Plus, we've had more conversations with them in the last 2 weeks than in the last 2 years. We're feeling a bit more optimistic about their direction.
Confusing Terms
The previous Creator License had some head-scratching terms, including a 6k image/month limit and three size constraints around revenue, company size, and funding. Good news – these terms have all been removed!
The Not-So-Perfect Parts
While the new license is a big improvement, it's not all sunshine and rainbows:
Revocable License
The license is still revocable. However, we've been assured that it will only be revoked if you violate the terms of the license.
Deletion Clause
You must delete any LoRAs or fine-tunes of SD3 models upon termination of the license. Theoretically, this could mean we'd have to delete all SD3 models if our "Research & Non-commercial" license was terminated. But we're hopeful that they wouldn't terminate our license just because some user decided to violate their Acceptable Use Policy.
Lingering Concerns
Even with the improvements to the license, we still have some significant concerns about SD3 and its place in our community:
Model Quality and Community Contributions
Let's be real – the current SD3 model is... well, it's got room for improvement. We've seen time and time again how our incredible community can take a so-so model and turn it into something amazing. It's like magic, really. But here's where things get tricky:
In a semi-closed ecosystem like SD3, it's incredibly challenging to attribute specific improvements to individual contributors. This makes fair compensation for community efforts nearly impossible. Sure, we'd all get to use a better model, but is that enough?
Here's the rub: any company with more than $1M in revenue needs to acquire an Enterprise license and pay Stability to use SD3 or any derivative – even if that derivative came from our community's blood, sweat, and pixels. So while Stability stands to profit significantly from our community's innovations, there's no clear mechanism for the community to share in that success.
This imbalance could potentially demotivate our community from contributing their best work. After all, why pour your energy into improving a model when the benefits largely flow to a single company?
The Open-Source Alternative
This is why a truly open-source approach makes so much sense for our community. Models like AuraFlow (Apache 2 licensed) and the upcoming Generative Models from the Open Model Initiative (OMI) offer a more equitable model where everyone – from individual creators to large companies – can benefit from and contribute to improvements.
In an open-source ecosystem:
Attribution is still challenging, but it matters less because everyone is free to use and build upon the improvements.
There's no need for complex compensation schemes because the entire community can potentially profit from their innovations.
The collaborative nature aligns more closely with our community's values of shared knowledge and collective progress.
By focusing our efforts on open-source alternatives, we ensure that the fruits of our community's labor remain accessible to all, fostering a more vibrant and innovative ecosystem in the long run.
The Enterprise License Offer
We've had many conversations with the Stability AI team, and they've offered us an Enterprise license that would allow us to offer SD3-based generation right here on Civitai. Sounds great, right? Well, hold onto your hats, because there's a catch (isn't there always?).
To recoup the cost of this Enterprise license, we'd need to:
Charge 12-16 Buzz per image (that's 3-4 times more than SDXL)
See the community generate at least 42 million images with SD3
Now, we're all for pushing boundaries, but that's a pretty tall order considering the state of the SD3 ecosystem and that it would likely take 9 months or more for it to be developed to the same level as something like SDXL. Not to mention the effect that the additional cost would have on demand for images generated by SD3.
Our Decision (For Now)
Given the hefty cost and the uncertainty about demand for SD3, we've decided not to acquire an Enterprise license at this time. What does this mean for you? Well, unfortunately, we won't be able to offer creators the ability to monetize SD3 models through generations or early access on our platform – at least not unless we decide to purchase the license in the future.
The Big Question: What's Next for SD3 on Civitai?
Here's where you come in. As a creator in the community, you vote on the ecosystem you believe in by investing your time and energy in creating finetuned checkpoints, LoRAs, and content. If you're eager to test out the latest from Stability AI, develop on top of SD3. If instead, you're unhappy with the way that things with SD3 have gone, we suggest showing your opinion by spending time pushing forward the open-source model ecosystem.
No matter which side you're on, we appreciate what each creator brings to Civitai and we believe that ultimately the quality of content created through AI tools will only continue to improve and we're thrilled to be on this journey with all of you.