The laws will have to accomodate, the changes coming friends. I have several e-mails from ex-game designers(anonymous)that found other work, before their jobs diminished. I hear the buzz about modding and it's only getting louder.

T-shirt printing: I can make my vectors, have them approved by the printer and with legal software; there is no copyright laws being broken, as long as my software, thoughts and images, are all originals. They are original too.

Sports and team logos: We cannot use team colors, according to the law, but we can make a hat or tee that says, Big Bay Buccaneers, with differing team colors, instead of Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Buccaneer, is a general noun, not a pronoun. Pronouns can be copyrighted, as they are usually defining titles, of said object or subject.

We can easily sell models, that are not specific to any certain game or projects, not belonging to ourselves. A very specifically, designed, automobile, called a Corvette Stingray, could be copyright infringement, but a car, slightly similar and called a Rorvette HammerHead, would be totally acceptable. even if it did look VERY similar to the original concept.

In order for us to sell, Game models of the future, we will need to follow these small technicalities, as modding is growing in popularity, for the hobbiest, more than ever before.

Now, for modding entire games and levels; we are talking thin ice here. These mods can be downloaded and uploaded for free use, but since their very code and core concept, belong to the creators, they cannot be sold legally.

The trend or fad of modding, is similar to trading baseball cards, like when I was a Tot.