Model production blocked by company lawyers???

teach them boys what a bare boob feels like and they'll go away.

"Ron" wrote

Well, that's not proof that the contract allowed it. I've seen many things in the WW II Ordnance Dept files that were/are still copyrighted yet were, in essence, in public domain because there was nothing/no one restricting it. "Considered" might be just the right term.

KL

Great idea Frank!

Bill Banaszak, MFE

That explains why in 1975 the Mitchell Aircraft Corp. made a homebuilt kit-plane that they called the "P-38". Later they came out with another that they dubbed the "U-2". Never heard that Lockheed ever gave them grief.....

-- John The history of things that didn't happen has never been written. . - - - Henry Kissinger

Now Bill, I wouldn't get all worked-up over this - I'd be surprised if I even get a prepackaged response back. But, I thought it was better to ask the source (such as it may be) than to vent more (though I'll do more of that at a moment's notice!) ;-)

Frank Kranick

That's why I used considered. In photos and films at NARA copyright is clearly marked on most if not all items it pertains to.

well shit. I have around 250 unbuilts in storage. My kid and his kids will have more than enough models to play with.

Wow, actually a good reason for me to hoard and buy models.....

Craig

It's probably a wash for the companies. They spend (for example) $100,000 in legal fees to press model companies for maybe $10,000 in total royalties. For the life of me, I don't see the "up side" for the manufactuers of the real thing. It's not like Hasegawa is going to try and sell it's plastic F-18s to the US Government as a replacement for McD's. If I were the CEO of the company, I'd tell the legal types not to bother...they have better stuff to do.

Here's a thought. I'm sure some of you out there own stock in the various defense contractor companies. Drop your CEO a line and let them know how you feel. You might mention the "free advertising" they get whenever someone buys/builds a model of their product. I'd heard one objection from a company who was concerned that shoddy kits of their airplane (or whatever it was. I forgot) would reflect poorly on the aircraft manufacturer rather than on the producer of the model kit. Not likely. If the kit is that bad, the modeling market place will see that it goes away.

My 2 cents.

Models per se may not be the govt.'s highest priority at the moment. But, Public Relations seems to be.

Apparently, in the last 5 years, Federal spending on PR projects has more than doubled (to around $89mil). Not much in the scope fo the whole budget, but a massive increase in its own right.

Mad-Modeller wrote: (snip)

Well, whatever (if ever) I receive, I'll be sure to pass along to ya'll and then maybe we can all get a good night's sleep. Or, maybe not!

Frank Kranick

I'm not holding my breath. IF you get an answer, I might be surprised. After all, we are talking about a government branch here.

Bill Banaszak, MFE

I don't get the whole 'selling a model aircraft is good advertising for the real one' thing. Hands up all those who built a kit of an F-16 and then thought 'Jeez, I just gotta go downtown and order me a real one of these li'l suckers'. I didn't. But I'd love to be able to afford to do it... I think it's actually the other way around - we build models of the things we'd like to own (like Porsche 911 Carerra RSRs) or fly (like classic warbirds or fast jets) but will *never* manage to; whether it's because we can't afford it (buying too many models of the things we'll never afford) or because we're too slow (I have trouble with video games, never mind Mach 2 at 100 feet) or because of whatever reason you might have. I don't know why the makers of the *real things* are getting all involved these days, but I can bet it's not because they're worried about money.

RobG

On a slightly happier note, when we we doing our Shorts SC.1 kit the the Shorts archive (now part of Bombardier Aerospace) in Belfast was very helpful. They answered questions, and provided images, some even with permission to reproduce in our instruction sheet.. It's nice to know some people can be nice and civilised in this mad world.

Dave Evans Whirlybird Models

Val Kraut wrote:

good news about the helpful folks. bad news about the price....for me.