Howdy,Just wondering what the legality is re: establishing a VA based upon a once-existant, small, (New Zealand) regional airline might be?The airline in question ceased to exist waaaay back in 1962; so, IMO, there really should be no trouble using either the name, livery, or replicating/simulating the operations of said company (and bring them forward into today's environment). But then again, I do not profess to being a lawyer.Please feel free to comment. TIA.

I've wondered the same thing about a former US airline that has been defunct for about 23 years. I did searches for trademarks, etc, but came up with nothing so far. If you find out the answer on this, I'd like to know as well.KP

First problem you have in looking for ancient trade marks is you are assuming that they will be on the internet!A lot of people forget that the internet has only truly come alive over the last 10 years with the introduction of Windows software. And not everything has been taken out of the dusty vaults to be electronically stored.In relation to the legality of using those trademarks well international law in these matters has no teeth its virtually impossible to sue someone in another country for copyright breach unless you want to spend a lot of money. Most situations it is up to the ISP provider to decide!The situation is so complex that there is little fear of being pursued for infringements of copyright unless there is substantial money being gained by the abusers. So basically go for it if its a long since airline then all you are doing is creating another historical document for the cyber age.

Thanks for the info. In my case, the defunct airline was not only from the same country as me (USA), it was also from the same state. I'll do a little checking around, mostly out of curiosity, as I more than likely won't be doing anything with the old logos, etc or creating a new VA. At least not anytime soon.KP

Howdy Colin and Ken,So; there I was, up to my armpits in designing a webpage, and I gone and missed the latest postings. :-lolThe internet may only be 30 years old, but at least it provides excellent access to company registry offices. The New Zealand Companies Registry Office has returned no hits (past or present) on the name (or variants thereof) I'm intending to use, so all's well on that front. :-)As far as trademarks/logos are concerned: unfortunately only a poorly positioned photo exists (geeze, didn't our forefathers realise that, when they took their box brownie snapshots, there would be some geek, 50+ years later, pouring over it with breathless anticipation, and bemoaning the fact it should have been shot from another angle because the company logo on the aircraft's fuselage is obscured) and there is just not enough textual information available to reconstruct it. :-(The only real issue I may face is with the Alexander Turnbull Library. Accessing their Ephemera Collection has unearthed two brochures for said airline which date from 1956. Copywrite on documents is only 50 years (at least here in NZ) ... and, guess what? It's 2006! :-lol Not that I intend reproducing these verbatim online; however, the information contained therein (thank the Lord for laser scanning :-lol )has helped considerably to construct an idea of how the company conducted operations. All in all, it's been a fun (and slightly expensive) bit of detective work.

Heya Dorian,May I ask what airline this is? Inquiring minds would like to know ;) Good luck with your project!