I’ve been looking at the licensing pages of a few console game manuals, and I was wondering if it is possible to find some more information about the circumstances when licensing and permissions are needed for games.
For example, in automotive games it is common to have the car manufacturer names and models licensed, but when exactly is this necessary? Is it only when the trademarked names are used (eg. Honda, Mitsubishi/ Civic, Lancer etc etc) or even when a 3D model is used which resembles a particular manufacturers body design? To elaborate, if I model or purchase a model which resembles a Honda Civic, do I have to ask permission from Honda to use it in my game? What if I used the 3D model but used a fictional name instead of the trademarked name, would that make a difference?
Similarly, if I have buildings in my game which strongly resemble real world buildings of a particular city, do I need some sort of permission for that also?