ORIGINAL: Kevin Greene
I'm just not convinced that the copyright laws are as stringent as some here lead us to believe...Again, I'll refer to the automobile market.
Unlike criminal laws, it's up to the individual copyright holders to enforce their own copyrights through the use of lawsuits, court orders, etc.
So, if a company like, Chevrolet or Ford chooses to go after model car manufacturers (as they've done) over the use of their trademarks and ignore aftermarket body panel/parts manufacturers, then that's their priviledge.
When I had questions about this, I contacted the licensing people for both Boeing and L-M rather than relying solely on internet chatter. If you want to get the straight skinny, I suggest going to the source.
ORIGINAL: Kevin Greene
The point being that if cloned automobile parts are OK then where is the line drawn with other items---Such as RC aircraft???
Just because they aren't currently enforcing their copyrights doesn't mean they're not going to sometime in the future. As long as they're showing that they're making some effort to protect their IP, then they can expand that enforcement anytime in the future to include 'new' violators.
The line gets drawn where the copyright holder decides they want it drawn. It's their property to protect as they see fit.