Toocool, the trick is that you can be damn sure M$ vets package art pastthe Legal Dept. (which probably has the population of some small countries
).
The "door opening" factor was the failure to properly mark the Grumman name on the package art (I have it here in my lap). That's open and shut, and in fact, the companies in question are
required to defend their marks for fear of precedent that it is open for use. Ubi was over a barrel at that point, and the negotiators decided to ask for fees as precedent. Now they can claim that companies have been forced to pay for images of their products that would otherwise be "fair use." That's my guess, anyway.