GTA IV gun lisenceing

[nick2907]

Hey just wondering if games like GTA IV and COD 4 would have to pay a company or something to put an ak-47 in a game or any other gun, the same way they would if they used car brands?

[Darkgamr]

Gun Brands and types are different things. Like how they could say python in vice city, but not colt python. Some of the guns names like glocks, I'm not sure of

[Chloe Smith]

Obviously not. I mean, the AK-47 isn't made by 1 company. It's a gun. Just like a pistol, it doesn't just have one company that makes it.

[redwolf206]

Probably not, as long as it isn't the exact same gun.

[CaptainDude]

Dont think so

[lepoisson]

Actually, I might have something to add here.

 

I used to play airsoft (google it, essentially it's paint ball with realistic looking guns), and at the time Tokyo Marui, the manufacturer of most of the (reliable) airsoft guns on the market, were being sued by Armalite Arms for illegal use of their trademark. (I think it was being prosecuted in US courts). (since rifles do bear the trademarks of the gun manufacturer).

 

yes these rifles are usually made at many different production facilities, with a ton of different variations, however, the trademarks and copyrights do still exist.

 

So, the answer may be yes and no. It depends on what the gun is called, if any trademarks or distinguishing marks are visible, if the gun clearly can be linked to a specific model or make, etc etc. Copyright and trademark law are fuzzy a lot of times, especially when you get into the international area. For example, the maker of the AK-47 is never going to take the time, effort or money to try to bring a law suit against Take Two Interactive in an international court, more important things happen.

[saiano]

gun patents are different than others. you don't need a liscense to include a gun in a game because there aren't any patents on a...lets say ak47. instead there are patents on the parts of the gun. and since an ak47 in a video game doesn't go into the detail of what kind of (for example) trigger mechanism or barrel is on the gun, a company with a patent for a certain trigger mechanism can't say that their patented mechanism is present in the game.

[Eight Legged Freak]

gun patents are different than others. you don't need a liscense to include a gun in a game because there aren't any patents on a...lets say ak47. instead there are patents on the parts of the gun. and since an ak47 in a video game doesn't go into the detail of what kind of (for example) trigger mechanism or barrel is on the gun, a company with a patent for a certain trigger mechanism can't say that their patented mechanism is present in the game.

But there are trademarks on the names of guns, such as the Heckler and Koch MP5, or the Colt M4. They cost money to use in a commercial product. The likeness of the guns is irrelivant, because you can give them a pseudonym, like Counter-Strike (eg. CV-47 for the AK-47, which is silly, because the AK isn't trademarked and is essentially a free-use firearm).

[tld]

thats kinda like words like car or bike you cant really label it because its a category

[Und3r5c0r3]

Like others have said, an AK-47 is made by many different gun companies, so unless they put a specific brand name on the AK-47 in the game, they wouldn't have to pay anything. Another example, they can put a 9mm pistol in the game, and they don't have to pay anything. But if they put a specific 9mm in the game, such as a Glock 17, then they would have to pay, because Glock is a specific gun company that makes 9mm pistols.