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Scenery / aircrafts models copyrights

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RED COOL

RED COOL

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Hello
The existence of payware products from sceneries to aircrafts to other add-ons requiring 3D models replicating real-life structures has always made me thinking about the right to replicate and sell a digital version of the original thing.
I know that some buildings in cities are considered as artwork and therefore some restrictions might be applied to pictures or replicas ( for example: the Eiffel tower can't be taken in pictures at night, because the lights are considered as a registred artwork, the artist can eventually sue people taking pictures of the tower at night, I don't think that ever happened but it's legally possible)

Back to FS add-ons, if I make a scenery of an airport or a city, I work hard on it and I believe that it is decent enough to be a payware addon to be sold to the community, Should I contact the airport telling them: Hey I made a replica of your terminal and I'm earning money from it ?

I hope my question is clear and I wish you a great day.
 
Some aircraft maker was saying no if I remember correct,
Gulf Stream , Honda .

Also some paints on the planes are no too.
Continental Airlines PeterMax paint is no , so as Pokemon's (Nintendo is saying no).
So atleast better search at each case.
 
In the United States, we do not give legal advice over the internet. Here, an advocate, an advisor, needs a license and also tact. If someone within my legal jurisdiction provides legal advice, "it is ok to copy something" and I follow that advice and suffer financial losses as a consequence of following that advice, I am allowed to recover damages from the advisor. So please, go into exacting detail what I can and cannot copy online.

As to individual brands, the consideration is essentially the same. Now, as the maker of Beechcraft, I very much want you to create a copy of my light business jet, make it very fast, very sexy and get millions of copies out there. However, I will not allow you to so, formally, please do not ask, as I will have to say, "no." If I could tell you that I would not prosecute you for doing it, I would, but I can't. Please take the hint and make my company even more famous than before! You never know, a simulator might make the leap to R/L.

But you see, I am very scared of legal consequences. My jets are very expensive, very fast and can do a lot of damage. Should someone crash one of my jets, as a consequence of following procedures learned on your licensed simulator of my jet, the simulation is obviously flawed and I can't assume responsibility for that. This is why I preemptively pull licensing authorization. So sad, but true, please make at least a million and maybe call them "LBJ," but if your code name is too obscure, we won't get any free publicity from the simulator people, sad face.

I remember "Feel There" released one a few years back, no branding whatsoever and a cryptic little name that was probably initials and may have been exactly, "LBJ." Other people just go ahead and do it, I certainly would, with a "wtf officer, I modelled what I saw, sue me."
 
As always, FSDeveloper advises to seek a lawyer for answers regarding copyrights. As Rick writes, the internet is not the place for legal advice.
 
IP law allows entities to protect design features and trademarks. But these are also constrained to the areas those owners do business. Does a simulated digital product compete with the actual physical product? There is not a clear default answer to that. Only the legal system can truly answer that.

As a designer or developer, you should create original work. If you use someone else's IP without license to increase the value of your work, then you are not on the right side. If the value of the third-party work is insignificant compared to your original work, then you are probably on the right side.
 
I'm closing this thread. Legal discussions in the forum are not something encouraged by FSDeveloper. Please consult a lawyer or use private messaging.
 
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