I'm thinking of start a paper airplane section on my crafts website. The issue is I'm not areodynamic engineer and would use models made by someone at some point in time (recently or in the past). Can you legally put designs of paper airplanes on your website without violating any copyright laws? I would be making the actual graphics and\or video tutorials myself and have my own unique web design with my own instructions in my own words. Any Ideas?
They may be able to patent it if they can demonstrate that it's "useful." One cannot copyright a process, such as the process of making a specific type of paper plane. So assuming it's not patented, you can rebuild a plane according to the process someone else used, come up with your own photos or diagrams, describe the process in your own words, and you're in the clear.
Copyright doesn’t protect an idea. It just protects the way in which an idea is expressed. Therefore, by creating your own videos and instructions you shouldn’t infringe on copyright. However, if a design is patented, that’s a different matter.
The origami crowd are particularly vocal about copyright. Don't mess with them! For paper aircraft, I think you're safe if you stick with the classic designs.