Novalogic Attempt To Copyright F-22

From: campbell@ufomind.com (Glenn Campbell, Las Vegas)
Date: Thu, 12 Jun 1997 14:13:43 -0800
Subject: Novalogic Attempt To Copyright F-22

Date: Thu, 12 Jun 1997 13:13:14 -0400 (EDT)
From: [withheld]
Subject: Novalogic Attempt To Copyright F-22

This is a mildly interesting Air Force property copyright issue.

A game company called Novalogic was apparently trying to obtain from
Lockheed Martin and the US Air Force exclusive rights to the F-22 Raptor
name, images and publicly released data.  This would, in effect, give
them sole rights to developing a flight/combat simulator for the
aircraft.  Lockheed Martin's lawyers sent a "cease and desist" letter to
Imagic, another game company with an F-22 sim in developement.

Apparently the issue has been resolved, with Lockheed Martin stating that
they "they have no intention now or in the future to exclusively license
names, likenesses, or other materials related to the F-22 Raptor or any of
their other planes."

The Air Force's response is pretty interesting.  Quoting from an article
on the Imagic Website:

"The name F-22 Raptor, as it relates to the plane, we believe should be
in the public domain -- along with images of it," Air Force spokesman Lt.
Col. Napolean Byars said in an interview. "We want the public to know about
this nation's assets."

Sooooooo.... I assume that this means that the term "assets" extends to
facilities as well as aircraft and ordinance.  That would mean that the
word "Area 51" could never be copyrighted by any one company.

If wonder if the Air Force feels that "assets" currently in developement
are "in the public domain".  :-)

The Imagic page documenting the case is at:

HTTP://www..imagicgames.com/wwwboard.dir/wwwboard-f22-forum.html