Game maker sues to use aircraft images

A U.S. video game maker says it wants a court to rule it can use images of modern weapons and aircraft without paying licensing fees to their manufacturers. Electronic Arts, developer of combat actions games such a Battlefield 3, filed suit in California against Textron Inc. and its Fort Worth-based Bell Helicopter subsidiary over EA's right to use images of aircraft including the V-22 Osprey and AH-1Z Viper helicopter, the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram reported Monday. Textron and Bell contend the aircraft, built for the Defense Department and funded with taxpayers' dollars, are private trademark property. EA's response is that its video games are protected by the First Amendment as a form of free speech and that images of the aircraft are often on display in the public domain and so not subject to trademark or copyright protections. Legal exerts say Electronic Arts will probably prevail. Last year the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed video and computer games are protected speech due the same constitutional protections as entertainment and political speech. And it would be difficult for Textron and Bell to say using images of military aircraft in games somehow diminishes their distinctiveness, one expert says. "The whole point of trademark law is to make sure people aren't confused by the origins of products," said Steven Mitby, an attorney in Houston who specializes in business patent, trademark and copyright law. "The video game-maker is saying there's no danger of confusion. I think that's a pretty persuasive argument," Mitby said.