Game development copyright issues (Gun related)

[k9870]

You can copyright shape?

[funkychinaman]

Since we're here, I read this a while ago, and I thought it was a bit strange. Maybe someone here can clarify this for me.

From Wikipedia, regarding the HK 416: "The project was originally called the HK M4, but this was changed in response to a trademark infringement suit filed by Colt Defense."

Wasn't M4 a military designation? Can you trademark that? I can understand trademarking a name that the company assigned it, like AR-15, Minimi, or USP, but it was the Army that named it the M4, was it not?

[Excalibur]

I think since Colt designed the M4 for the military, it would be a copyright name under their company. That's why the Canadian M4s aren't called M4s and neither are the English ones used by SAS

[ManiacallyChallenged]

Game guns are made to different designs sometimes.
FPS games usually have to model them more thoroughly, but other games can get away with different stuff.
Max Payne 2, fr'instance has low detail models for the most part, but high detail textures I think they scanned in or something.

Looking back over that post it doesn't make much coherent sense. I've been awake for a long time now, probably should go to bed.

[funkychinaman]

Originally Posted by Excalibur

I think since Colt designed the M4 for the military, it would be a copyright name under their company. That's why the Canadian M4s aren't called M4s and neither are the English ones used by SAS

Yeah, but foreign countries have their own military designations, there's no reason to expect them to use ours. And Colt would have a patent on the design, but there's no reason to expect them to have a trademark on a name that they didn't come up with themselves, is there? (Do companies like Bushmaster or Stag Arms pay Colt a license fee for their M4s then?)

[ManiacallyChallenged]

I think the name thing is about brand power.
Like you can make Coke if you could figure out the recipe. That's no prob.
But if you call it Coke so people will buy it, there's the obvious rub.

[MT2008]

Originally Posted by Excalibur

I think since Colt designed the M4 for the military, it would be a copyright name under their company. That's why the Canadian M4s aren't called M4s and neither are the English ones used by SAS

That has nothing to do with copyrights, that's simply a matter of different designation preferences (the British MoD designates everything with "L" - i.e. L85 - rather than "M", as in the U.S. military). The M4s used by the SAS are not manufactured in British factories (as best I know, they use American-made weapons supplied by the U.S. government), so copyright issues are irrelevant.

[Spartan198]

Originally Posted by Archer

The M9 in game was called the “Beretta M9F,”

No, the Beretta in the game was under "Beretta M92FS". Not quite the manufacturer designation, but Capcom has a licensing agreement with Beretta for the 92FS, which has been a franchise mainstay since the original Resident Evil.

Originally Posted by MT2008

The M4s used by the SAS are not manufactured in British factories (as best I know, they use American-made weapons supplied by the U.S. government), so copyright issues are irrelevant.

SAS use the Canadian C8FTHB, not the M4.