Quote:
Originally Posted by IceFire
I believe there is now some legal precedent set as a result of the EA/Battlefield 4 lawsuit involving the AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter but I'm not sure.
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Not surprisingly, the case was settled out of court and the terms of the settlement are undisclosed. No defense contractor wants an unfavorable legal precedent on the books, since it would gut their ability to launch future lawsuits against video game manufacturers.
http://kotaku.com/5874076/ea-invokes...licopter-maker
But, in the years after the NG Consent Decree, the U.S. Supreme Court has made some rulings that could be taken to be favorable to game manufacturer's rights to "free speech."
In particular, they have the right to use the unnamed images of real people without paying royalties:
http://kotaku.com/5838921/ea-has-a-f...rs-judge-rules
Of course, that changes NOTHING with regards to IL2, for the reasons that Icefire mentioned.
There's also the possibility that the Warthunder programmers quietly paid royalties to NG and other defense contractors, precisely to prevent a lawsuit. Different game, different companies, different legal environment.