Shave yourself with some shaving cream named after a car made in communist germany! Anyway, I actually did find this, however I accidentally translated "Anmeldetag" as date of expiration. My bad! Why don't I know the language of the country I was born in I will never know (born in germany, living in detroit). Anyway, thank you so much for this!
The debate on whether a real-world mod retaining its actual name can be made available on the repository is something worth discussing. Some repositories in certain communities allow copyrighted names and such (for example, the free and open-source Rigs of Rods). However, given that BeamNG is a paid game, it's no surprise that the repository does not allow such content to prevent legal issues from happening, although it used to in the early days. An instance of a real-world name being retained for retail copies of video games is the original Counter-Strike. One of the weapons, the Ingram MAC-10, kept its actual name (rather than using a fictional one like all other weapons) since the company that produced it, Military Armament Corporation, went bankrupt in 1975. But a more relevant example of a BeamNG repository mod that kept its IRL name is the B-25 Mitchell; as far as I know, Boeing (which acquired North American Aviation and Rockwell International) released all information pertaining to the medium bomber to the public domain. Assuming that the Wartburg trademark and copyright is no longer active, then this mod would theoretically have a chance to be accepted on the repository while retaining its real-world name. Then again, there may be some uncertainties highlighted by some users. Just my two cents on this discussion.
I actually never thought of the B25 Mitchell in this context, it is technically the only real life vehicle on repo
Legally speaking (yes, i am that kind of person), if BeamNG has no knowledge of said content being in violation of any copyright, then they are freed from liability. I also highly doubt that the name of an American plane bomber is copyrighted in Germany, of all places. But yeah. There were also many other real life cars on the repo that got removed, like Mythbuster's Cadillac, but they all got removed in a purge a few years ago iirc. So I guess it would be the first repo car to be on the repo permanently. Most likely, they are based in the United States. They can easily use this law to shove any and all legal consequences on the user who uploaded the content. However, BeamNG is based in Germany, so they have different laws. Excuse me while I look at the Gesetze im Internet for the next two hours.
Ive been contacted about this before and im reconsidering if i will actually try to upload it under the Wartburg Name. I may just do the thing that lucas tried and just ask if i can use the name for this (since im not making any money here i dont think they would be too stuck up). Besides i cant find a single thread of information on these holding companies or how to even contact them so im not too worried that they would try (or even have the means to) to file any copyright issues. though if that happens ill just call it the Eisenach. Nothing they can do about that --- Post updated --- zakspeed capri is also a wierd case. It doesnt have ford badges but its literally just a... Zakspeed Capri
Another technically weird case is the repo version of Maluch, because the official name of the car since the 2000s is Fiat 126 Maluch, having been 'rebranded' from Polski Fiat 126p, and on the repo it's called Maluch 126p, which is like a combination of both names that should be copyrighted, but it was allowed anyway.
Yeah main reason I wouldn't touch it is all of the trademark fillings are very recent, originally filed in 2020 and contested in 2021(ongoing from what I can tell). I would probably just do what stoat did with with og release of the coronet and have repo version and forum version. From what I heard its a easy process. That said I can only suggest based on my own opinion the decision is yours and the repo staff's to make.
What I can say after reading German laws for over a day is this: the trademark is not valid until this dispute is solved. The company that it is registered to literally doesn't exist. If you are really worried about legal issues, you can write a letter to the DPMA asking for the trademark to be revoked, as it is not distinctive and it is also not being used (and i am not even sure it can be trademarked). Here is the form if you want to go down that path, but I really don't think anything at all would happen if you just put it on the repo.
