RE: Copywrites, Patents, Rights???
Hi BJR,
I'm just going to copy my post from the Arrow thread here.
I asked an attorney friend about this issue and he just laughed when I told him how much money was probably involved. I will pass on a few points he made (after he stopped laughing). First, most copyrights (production rights or whatever you want to generically call them) have an expiration date and since the Arrow was originally designed in '77 or '78 and the agreement with Quality Line probably occurred in the early 80's; well, it's been at least 30 years. Second, the plans to build the airplane were published in M.A.N. in 1979 which pretty much makes them public domain from that point on. Third, the cost of litigating this issue makes the whole disagreement completely laughable.
I will add that the cost of 'protecting' your design may well exceed the minimal profits you make from kitting it.
One more related point. I have inquired several times in the past about the possibility of Oxai selling kit versions of their pricey built-up 2 meter airplanes since they start out as laser-cut kits. Oxai's response was that they were afraid this would make it too easy for somebody else to copy the airplane and sell their own kits (because there is such a HUGE amount of money to be made). I may be in a very small minority, but I would spend $3,000 for 3 or 4 top quality kits before I dropped $3,000 for a top quality ARF - just sayin'.
If you are really interested you can research what has happened with some of the big dogs (EG. Apple vs Samsung). There is a lot of money involved and the lawyers get paid no matter who wins.
-Will
-Will