Lockheed is indeed pressing on with copyright infringement and licensing fees over not only their current products (the new Tamiya 1/32 scale F-16 plastic model has a notice right on the box that says "F-16 Fighting Falcon is a trademark of Lockheed Martin Corporation used under license to Tamiya") but anything ever produced by Lockheed, a division of Lockheed, or a company merged or taken over by Lockheed. Try to use the phrase "Skunk Works" commercially and you'll get a C&D letter from Lockheed. Same with the P-38, Constellation, F-104, B-26, etc. Boeing is doing the same thing, as are all the remaining aerospace firms. Lockheed has just gotten more public notice than others.
The plastic model manufacturers have previously side-stepped the issue by ignoring letters from them, but Tamiya has opened a huge can of worms by acquiesing and paying the royalties. Navigate through Lockheed's website and you'll find a link that will tell you how to apply for a license and what is required. The link takes you to a law firm - any surprises there??
The issue is not the royalties paid per unit sold - that usually amounts to a few percentages of sale price. The killer is that a part of the licensing agreement is for the manufacturer (plastic, r/c, whatever) to hold adequate - set by Lockheed - product liability insurance, so that Lockheed doesn't get sued when little Johnny chokes on a piece of his brother's Tamiya F-16 kit, or they don't get sued when someone's P-38 goes out of control in the pits. As noble as that may sound, it's really all about the big guys getting greedy. They see it as a no-risk profit stream - the outside law firm does all the work.
There is hope on the horizon, however. The plastic modelling community has gotten a Congressman to introduce a bill preventing defense manufacturers from demanding royalties or licensing fees from equipment designed and produced for the government. This bill has so far made it through various commitees in Congress and should come up for a vote soon. There is a link to this issue at
www.finescale.com.
Mark