first off I AM NOT A LAWYER
but i've been doing lots of research on this type of thing lately. i think maybe have an alias.ini file in your home/.vdrift directory. something that could be used to rename every vehicle on the client side. and rename them to whatever one wants. something set up with fields like:
vehicle_folder year make model
on legality my research has uncovered a few interesting things in u.s. law. the car bodies are considered "useful articles" and thus cannot be protected by copyright.
they could be protected by design patents, but patents are not automatic, they have to be applied for. i don't know if car makers get design patents on each of their body styles, but if they do, they can only protect for 20 years which means 1992 year model or less should be fair game.
there are also some lawsuits going on that could have leave a solid precedent i a few years. the most controversial will probable be the one ea is in with textron:
http://games.yahoo.com/blogs/plugged-in/...07944.html
which could test the boundaries of games as free speech. if it is upheld that a video game receives the same protections that are given to books and films we should be able to even use trademarked branding.
another one saw on slashdot recently has dc comics filing suit against a guy who makes custom trim panels so people can dress up their cars like batman's car. as far as i recall that suit did not get thrown out by the judge on the useful article basis, so we may see where it goes eventually. a commenter on that linked to some shelby cobra replica company that shelby had tried to sue twice, iirc the second lawsuit was thrown out with prejudice. it still cost them 1 million dollars in legal defenses.
at some point i may speak to an ip lawyer about all this and i'll be certain to pass on my findings here. for now lets all cross our fingers and hope video games become fully protected free speech.
