David Megginson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said: > You're thinking about something that's very specific to the U.S. As > far as I understand, the U.S. government is not allowed to copyright > (and, perhaps, trademark?) any IP -- that's why people are allowed to > copy and distribute the FAA database and the Instrument Approach > Procedure plates for free, and why we can get such excellent free > geodata for the U.S. when building FlightGear scenery. > > In the rest of the world, government and government-owned > organizations have no such restriction, so Transport Canada (for > example) could quite readily sue you for violating their copyright or > trademark, as could Air France or anyone else.
That was something I wondered about, but at the same time, it seems unlikely that a government would bring suit...even if it could. I mean it's not like they are going to extradite one of us. Probably all the suits ever filed by governments in foriegn courts can be counted on one hand, if that many. So, should we do anything differently with our models? > In fact, the British > Crown asserts a perpetual copyright over the Book of Common Prayer, > dating back many centuries. Hah! ...and all because Henry VIII's first wife didn't bear any male children. :-) Best, Jim _______________________________________________ Flightgear-devel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.flightgear.org/mailman/listinfo/flightgear-devel
