On Tue, 10 Jan 2006 02:27:07 -0800, you wrote: >> > ..hang on a sec: Did you make ogeL, or did Lego? Extend this a bit, >> > and ask whether we can legally model the A380, the Wright Flyer etc.
I am catching up on the thread, so hold the dogs if this has been discussed, but my experience is with model automobiles. It used to be the auto makers were happy to have toys (models) made of their products. They considered it free promotion. Until they discovered that it was big business. Then they started charging licensing fees and requiring that toy makers get permission to reproduce physical representations of their automobile designs. They and the courts in the United States look upon the design, the shape and appearance of the auto, as intellectual property. Thus it may be a violation to construct a model, virtual or otherwise, for a commercial purpose (or perhaps distribute for any purpose), of a design for which trademark, copyright or design patent status is claimed. The Wright Flyer is beyond the reach of any claims that I know of, except perhaps moral rights from the descendants. The Airbus, however, could be subject to restrictions, if they wanted to enforce them. Things have even gotten so bad that there have been rulings restricting commercial use of photographs taken of landmarks having value, such as the Prometheus Statue at Rockefeller Center in New York City. I am sure someone with legal knowledge greater than mine can give a better answer, but this is my understanding from observing changes in the toy car market over the years as a collector and small time dealer in collectibles. Steve ------------------------------------------------------- This SF.net email is sponsored by: Splunk Inc. Do you grep through log files for problems? Stop! Download the new AJAX search engine that makes searching your log files as easy as surfing the web. DOWNLOAD SPLUNK! http://ads.osdn.com/?ad_idv37&alloc_id865&op=click _______________________________________________ Flightgear-devel mailing list Flightgear-devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/flightgear-devel
