Military Copyright licencing bill good news for scale modellers.

[wonwinglo]

The following summary is provided by the Congressional Research Service, which is a government entity that serves Congress and is run by the Library of Congress.

2/28/2006--Introduced.

Military Toy Replica Act - Directs the Secretary of Defense to require that any contract entered into or renewed by the Department of Defense include a provision prohibiting the contractor from requiring toy and hobby manufacturers, distributors, or merchants to obtain licenses from, or pay fees to, the contractor for the use of military likenesses or designations on items provided under the contract.

109TH CONGRESS

H. R. 4806

2D SESSION

To prohibit defense contractors from requiring licenses or fees for use of military likenesses and designations.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 28, 2006

Mr. ANDREWS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services

A BILL

To prohibit defense contractors from requiring licenses or fees for use of military likenesses and designations.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Military Toy Replica

Act''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON DEFENSE CONTRACTORS REQUIR- ING LICENSES OR FEES FOR USE OF MILI-

TARY LIKENESSES AND DESIGNATIONS.

The Secretary of Defense shall require that any con-

tract entered into or renewed by the Department of Defense include a provision prohibiting the contractor from requiring toy and hobby manufacturers, distributors, or merchants to obtain licenses from or pay fees to the contractor for the use of military likenesses or designations on items provided under the contract.

[Guest]

In short then,

Those regulations mean Model Manufacturers and more importantly us Model Makers can build any model subject we like now in any scheme without fear of reprisal of Copyright from the Original Manufacturers/End Users for our Hobby.

Not that it has stopped us up to now but a good common sense decision nonetheless and will hopefully make more info readily available for the people that appreciate it most....us the modellers !!!

Without us Model Makers, the Whole History of Aviation would not still be alive today.

A Victory for us all I think !!!

Mark.

[wonwinglo]

Spot on Mark,common sense has prevailed at long last,no manufacturer supplying goods to the U.S Military under any contract has the right to seek funds from designs in response to builders or kit manufacturers or the associated industry.

And that includes the earlier designs as well,the get rich quick merchants who saw a loophole have been given their marching orders.

Bravo.

[Guest]

It has to be a positive step for modelling in general and may hopefuly spur on aftermarket suppliers to increase thier range of products.

Thanks Barry.

[Guest]

Long overdue in my opinion But i bet it doesnt reduce the costs of kits (me being cynical nahh)

[Guest]

You can see the status of the bill here:

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:h.r.04806:

Looks like it is stuck in committee. With the upcoming elections, I'll be surprised if it moves. I am impressed that they managed 5 cosponsors - that's not too bad.

[Guest]

Howdy Guys,

I have been away from the forum this week, I have gone back to work. However, I did want to comment on this topic.

The defense contractors, ie... Lockheed martin, Boeing, general dynamics etc.. were trying to make a fast buck by forcing model companies and anyone who replicated the "likeness" of military equipment, to have a license to do so.

However, (and this story mainly applies to the USA), since it is "we the people" who pay taxes which pay for the defense department to be able to purchase the military hardware from the contractors.....with our money no less, then the military equipment is not the property of the contractors, but the property of "we the people".

One a contractor is commissioned to fill an order for the US government and is paid (with tax dollars), the contractors lose all claims to the rights to the equipment, including toy licensing. Once its paid for, its the property of the people of the United States.

So, I can proudly claim that I own a small part of some of the worlds most sophisticated military hardware lol. I may run to the airbase this weekend and see if I can take a C 130 out for a spin lol. I promise to have it back by 5 pm.

But seriously, this topic was a hot topic in the cardmodels forum also. Especially since cardmodelers design their own models and sometimes sell them.

Anyway, I just wanted to put the topic in a different perspective, as seen thru the eyes of an american modeler/taxpayer who is glad to see this "licensing topic" discussed and hopefully put to rest, making it perfectly legal to design military model in the likeness of current hardware.

Have a good day,

Greg

PS: By the way, check out the United States newest stealth fighter, it uses the ultimate in stealth technology. Feel free to design a model of it guys lol

[Guest]

Very Nicely Put Greg and Yes someone moved the F-22 before the Pilot got there lol !!!

Mark.