Are military insignia copyrighted?

How about the insignia of various American and foreign ww2 fighter and bomber squadrons, like the flying tigers logo? Is that protected by copyright? How about ww2 bomber nose art? Or is it all public domain? Can I safely assume that all german ww2 / nazi insignia, symbols, and artwork is public domain and nobody is gonna bother me for using it commercially?

Reply to
wizzzer
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IIRC the RAF tried to copyright its roundel but the judge threw them out of court.

I believe USAF/USN/USMC would have more luck in an US court:-))))

Reply to
vk

I should think in the States it's not far off this which was sent to me by the MoD in the UK. It's even happening in the credits for films now as there credit in the latest Wallace and Gromit credit list.

Reply to
Richard Brooks

Short answer: No, they are generally not copyright protected.

Long answer: It depends.

Case 1:

Some nose art on US aircraft were copies of commercial art, usually pinups from various magazines. That art was copyrighted, so legally a copy on

an aircraft would be an infringement, although it was probably never enforced during the war, and there was little likelyhood of monetary gain. Most common examples would be the numerous variations of Alerto Vargas pinups taken from Esquire magazines and calendars.

Case 2:

Disney (Warner Brothers too) designed many unit insignia on request, all at no cost to the government. If they used a known Disney character such as Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck, copies of those designs would probably constitute copyright infringement. If the designs were done specifically for a unit and did not involve already-existent commercial property and Disney did not retain rights then they are probably not protected by copyright.

Case 3:

Some units had insignia with a copyrighted design, used with the specific authorization of the design owner, for example "Snoopy" patches. Some of them even have a copyright symbol on them. Those designs are protected by copyright.

Case 4:

US national insignia - not copyrighted, but usage may be restricted by law. Generally the US government does not retain copyright, but it may restrict usage via statute. Some agencies require the approval of that agency for use of their insignia or logo, but that may not be legally binding - depends on the agency and the intended usage.

Case 5:

Insignia designed by government contractors where the contractor retains copyright. Those designs are protected by copyright.

Case 6:

There are instances of unit insignia having been copyrighted, often by veteran's groups but also sometimes by people seeking to make a buck off of well-known units. These designs are protected by copyright, and also sometimes by a trademark.

Flying Tiger insignia: The tiger with the V device was designed by Disney and Disney may legally have copyright - they could make an inroad on repro designs on that one, as reproduction Flying Tiger patches and enamel badges/pins are sold worldwide. The shark-mouth was used by other units prior to the AVG and is most probably not copyrighted.

Nazi insignia - who is going to contest copyright infringement? The odds are if any German manufacturing firms owns the rights to a specific design they will not contest it - bad publicity move.

One thing to remember - just because a design is ubiquitous in the public arena and is widely reproduced without approval (like the common "smiley face" design) doesn't mean it's in the public domain. It's up to a potential user to research it.

John Hairell ( snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com) Not a copyright attorney, and never played one on TV

Reply to
guardian6

Furthermore, if it falls into the disputed waters of trademark infringement, I think the rules shift somewhat. For instance there is some relief from jeopardy if the trademark has been abandoned or not vigorously protected - or so I heard. The legal eagles can correct me if I'm wrong or expand upon that point.

WmB

Reply to
WmB

Probably the only case(s) where there *could* be a problem, is in aircraft art, etc., that was based on copyrighted material, such as Disney characters. I have several books, which stated that Mr. Disney gave "special permission" to our troops, to use the characters on aircraft, submarine logos, etc.

Reply to
Greg Heilers

Where do warbird restorers get the RAF roundels? I have the Air Corps roundels -- the one with the red dot in the middle. There's a source for all the other USAF stars and bars insignia. To me, it seems there's a basic difference between the two services when they think about their insignia. But my sense of it all is that copyrighting that sort of thing is going to be difficult.

By the way, the Target Stores logo is the same as the insignia for the Peruvian Air Force.

Reply to
mholt

Target emblem is also the old Singapore insignia.

An A-4 Skyhawk is the latest jet warbird to take to the show circuit. It's painted in Australian Navy colors to avoid being mis-identified as a currently serving USN aircraft.

OT: There is now an ex-air tanker P2V-5 Neptune being restored to warbird status complete with nose and tail gun turrets.

Tom

Reply to
maiesm72

I believe the RAAF insignia are now subject to approval from the RAAF before they can be used other than on RAAF equipment. Hawkeye Decals is currently the only decal company (to the best of my knowledge ) to have official approval to use the RAAF insignia.

Reply to
Kevin(Bluey)

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