The article mentions EA licenses it cars for their "need for speed" franchise as they are the main protagonists in that series,
wouldn't you say the airplanes are some kind central game element in il2
I dont think anything would change regarding il2 if they are permitted to depict 3 Bell helicopters
in Battlefield 3 where there are much more vehicles players can choose from.
EDIT: I wonder how older flight simulations handled that sort of thing (or didn't they need to?), like Aces over the Pacific etc.,
maybe american copyright law is getting ridiculously restricted over the years ?