Yeah, I know many of them are paid by the product manufacturer to show and advertise the product. However, brands are often shown in the background or out of focus. Such thinks are sometimes also purposely placed as a sort of subtle advertisement. However, they are more often a result of coincidence. Film editors don't often take the time to edit out every store sign in the background.xXCARL1992Xx wrote: ↑23 Sep 2021 16:29 if you see branded stuff focused in a film (examples you mentioned) then this is product placement and has nothing to do with copyright, the companies deliberately payed to have their products shown, James Bond is one of such things, they even reshoot scenes for the latest film because the release delayed over a year and the shown products were out of "trend" again (what a nonsense reason to reshoot scenes )
In any case, these movies are indeed a very different topic than these games.
If the police car designs are legally copyrighted by the Dutch government, then either that government allows their use in media, or SCS likely reached out for permission. It is no different than company brands, especially not because of this "portraying reality" aspect.