Hello,

I have a few guys I have gathered together as team and we all love WW2. I have titled our project as 'Knights of the Pacific'. It is a WW2 Flight Combat Simulator showcasing the air battles that took place there. I have a hiccup though. How do you go about requesting licensing for use of product names? For example the Vought aircrfat compnay name is now owned by The Triumph Group. I have sent them repeated e-mails but have not recieved a response as of yet. Is there an official legal for to fill out and mail to get ths done? Or since this is historical in context do I even need to ask for permission?

Thank you,

Isaac

Early box art concept (althogh the game would be desiminated digitally)

[attachment=22441:KOTP.png]

1. How do you go about requesting licensing for use of product names? For example the Vought aircrfat compnay name is now owned by The Triumph Group. I have sent them repeated e-mails but have not recieved a response as of yet.
2. Is there an official legal for to fill out and mail to get ths done?
3. Or since this is historical in context do I even need to ask for permission?

1. You need to call on the telephone. It'll go much faster and get you your answer much more reliably.
2. Ask when you get someone on the phone.
3. Ask when you get someone on the phone.

As to whether you need permission to display a real world product, it's a bit of a grey area... For example, EA used to license all of the weapons used in their games, but recently they decided to backflip on their policy and they now use real-world guns without paying any license fees, claiming that they don't have to.

Seeing that you're reproducing military equipment from over 50 years ago, I would guess that you'd be pretty safe from any kind of copyright infringement claims... You could get in touch with a lawyer who specializes in copyright to get some solid advice.

IIRC EA's claim is based on the idea that guns are not the "main subject" of their games.. in other words, they don't make a game about guns so the licensed material is just part of a background.

I am not sure this will fly (pun intended :P ) when it comes to a game about airplanes.

As usual with these things, it's all about how much you're willing to gamble.

As usual with these things, it's all about how much you're willing to gamble.

And EA has much deeper pockets, should things go sideways.

As usual with these things, it's all about how much you're willing to gamble.

And EA has much deeper pockets, should things go sideways.

yep.. and that's also why I never gamble on these things

Although, every time you make a game you are gambling.. with so many retarded copyrights, patents and patent trolls out there.. it's always a gamble.

IIRC EA's claim is based on the idea that guns are not the "main subject" of their games.. in other words, they don't make a game about guns so the licensed material is just part of a background.

I am not sure this will fly (pun intended ) when it comes to a game about airplanes.

As usual with these things, it's all about how much you're willing to gamble.

Found this little tidbit of info from an actual law firm. So, my apprehension is disappearing quickly.

http://www.bradleygross.com/2012/03/ea-sued-over-use-of-helicopters-in.html

I'm really loving the Outerra game engine too!

One more thing:

The term of copyright for a particular work depends on several factors. Copyright protection may be affected if the copyright has been published, and, if so, the date of first publication. Generally, for works created after January 1, 1978, copyright protection lasts for the life of the author or copyright owner plus an additional 70 years. For example, if the author is now age 21 and lives 75 more years, copyright protection would last for 145 years.

One more thing:

The term of copyright for a particular work depends on several factors. Copyright protection may be affected if the copyright has been published, and, if so, the date of first publication. Generally, for works created after January 1, 1978, copyright protection lasts for the life of the author or copyright owner plus an additional 70 years. For example, if the author is now age 21 and lives 75 more years, copyright protection would last for 145 years.

The aircraft in my SIM were created well before 1978.

It won't just be copyright infringement you have to worry about though. There's also trade marks.

There is more than copyright. Trademarks, trade dress, assorted design protections, and other intellectual property rights could all be an issue.

And as you mentioned, there is copyright. Right now in copyright the critical year is 1923. Stuff before that is out of copyright in the US, after that date it is almost certainly protected. The clock is currently paused, no new works will enter the public domain through copyright domain until around the end of this decade.


The question is best asked to a lawyer who can look up all the relevant details.

Take your list of planes and ask your business lawyer what agreements you will need. You need one if you are going to do business. You can help both yourself and your lawyer by doing trademark searches and finding out who owns as many rights as you can in advance. For normal business tasks, lawyers are often $150-$200 per hour in the US depending on location, they are cheapest when you need to ask preventative questions like this one. Take all your lists of planes and your paper trails of who owns what, and ask your lawyer.