I bought a buddha statue and I would like to scan it using photogrammetry and publish the result.
Am I allowed to do that?
Is this the same like scanning a book and publishing it? Sketchfab on the other hand is full of 3d models of commercial products.
If the design was made from an artist and is not public domain, than you should not upload that scan without the (written) permission of the creator of the design. Espacially a scan of a decorative object will likely be protected, so costumers buy the original instead of printing itself or buy a printed version. If you would design a deco object and sell copies of it, you also don't want that others just scan it and print it.
First thing to do is get a lawyer skilled in copyright law as applicable where you live. It's going to depend in no small part on whether your scanned model is considered a copy or a transformative work of art.
Personally, I see scanning an object as similar to photographing it (or sketching it). Lots of art objects, or for that matter personal items such as a photo of a living person, are protected by copyright; others aren't. If I made the laws, which I sadly don't :-) , I would consider a scanned, printed object to be in the same boat as a sketch -- has to be demonstrably transformative and all that.
