Weapon licenses in gaming

Hello, this is my first thread in the forum, and I speak Spanish, so sorry if my English is not good. My question is simple but no one answered me: How works the weapon licenses in video games? A few months ago I read EA didn't pay for Battlefield weapons licenses in 2013. I would like to know if it is possible to add real weapons to one game without having to pay for it. I hope you can clarify my doubt. Thank you.

 

Maybe. There is a difference between adding them without permission and adding them without paying a license fee. Just asking won't automatically lead to a license fee, but using them without asking for permission could be far worse if they do require some kind of action.

Keep in mind the only sources that can tell you with certainty are lawyers and the companies themselves.

 

A weapon manufacturer even used our game for PR purpose becasue we featured their weapon systems in the game. Though we use fake names for our weapons.

 

And you know how I can Contact with one company for request their permission? Thank you for your answer.

 

But if you copy exactly the form of one weapon, but you change the name, you can have problems with a company? For example, if you make one AK-47, but named AKA-99, they can report you? Thank you.

 

There is always a risk of legal actions. But they win by having a relaxed attitud towards it. The wepaon industry in general are more relaxed about it than let say the car industry, they want their cars to shine over competitors in the game etc. Full control over the creative process.

Here is the Facebook post from a wepaons manufacturer using our game for PR

https://www.facebook.com/trijicon/posts/2127635267252016

 

Make magic weapons, add neon stripes, change color / name / pattern, weapon structure / attachements.
Bam, you're no longer getting sued. This is where imagination and certain degree of freedom is the best.

If you do it right ofc.

Same applies if you need realistic weapons in game, just make it a bit absurd so it's noticeable, but not sue'-able.
Like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. did it, or Arma.

Models look quite nice.

 

Thanks, items are quite affordable so there is no reason not to stick to the best the industri have to offer. Its harder with environments

 

Thank you, finally i'm going to make weapons with my style. I'll try to make them look realistic, but not look too much like the real ones. Thanks for your help.

 

Same way you would contact anyone else. Just go to their website and click "Contact Us". Trijicon, for example, has mail addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers.

This. Each company handles the situation in different ways. Changing the weapon's name might work for one company while another may require you to make significant modifications to the model and textures.

 

You can also change the trademark parts in subtile ways, like my artist, he flipped the triangle of the logo and changed the name a bit



Or the Eotech that is now a NAVTech

 

You're more likely to run into trouble using trademarked names than you would models which look similar to real firearms. You should research the trademarking of any name you wish to include in your game. For example, it appears AK-47, AK-74, Kalashnikov, etc, will run you into a licensing dispute:

https://www.rt.com/business/366477-video-games-pay-kalashnikov-trademark/

I'd probably research AKM or simply AK for use instead, which will probably turn out to be ok to use as they are more generic terms likely not trademarked. It will be different on a case by case basis. For example Colt owns the trademark for AR-15, but lost their trademark to M4 in a legal dispute with Bushmaster, so M4 is good to use without issue (for non-firearm people the AR-15 and M4 are essentially the same firearm platform anyway). So research each one individually.

I Am Not A Lawyer

 

And I have one more question. I read how to look when one product have copyright, and I found this:
"Look at the date. Some works enter the public domain because their intellectual property rights have expired. This applies to: All works published in the United States before the year 1923."
That means can I, for example, use one weapon used in USAs Civil War without the need of pay licenses? Or can I have problems yet?

 

Contact the owner.