It says "scheduled maintenance" but there wasn't anything scheduled? I see the patch list just went up. I find this one both comical and maddening. How in the you-know-what can a country's flag be COPYRIGHTED? That is the height of idiocy, truly...
It is 100% idiotic, but i still understand why; flag is symbol of the nation, so they can do what they want with it.
I guess we'll find out when the people from those countries start yappin' about it. I AM curious to know which countries it is.
If anyone every wonders why lawyers are at the butt-end of so many jokes... this flag issue is part and parcel of that. But I think if I keep talking I'm gonna get a mod reprimand me... so lawyers, don't take this as a personal insult. Unless you actively worked in court to copyright a country's flag?
I'm researching now, will edit post when I get results. Edit 1: Almost no information on this topic out there that I can find quickly. So you're probably right, this must have something to do with one of the more "authoritarian" countries of the world not allowing their flag to be used for commercial purpose, which I guess this would be (a private corporation's video game). And I've been reprimanded by mods on this forum before for "political discussion", which is apparently prohibited by forum rules... so I'm going to stop talking about this subject now since they are VERY sensitive about it based upon my past experience. I mean no harm, mods, just bored while waiting for maintenance!!
what I know till now: national flags are public domain and free to use but the artwork itself might be copyrighted and you have to get a copyright release from the creator or create/photograph it yourself. But in the US there are three restrictions: the swiss coat of arms, the red cross insignia and official seals/emblems may not be used for commercial/advertising/etc purpose. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/708
Still researching this. I don't see how a trademark applies to a flag at all. This whole topic is so bizarre to me!! Here's legal zoom's definitions (just from a random web search): Edit: I suppose the Canadians have trademarked their "maple leaf" symbol, that's probably what they did - not the flag itself, but the maple leaf symbol itself. I can understand that one - Canada doesn't want the marketplace filled with maple leaf symbols, which would present the appearance that the Canadian government somehow "approves" of that product.
