Comments on: How can I create a Monopoly Board Game of my local area without infringing on Copyright laws?

By: jpoland13

jpoland13 — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 00:48:43 +0000

What is copyrighted? The name Monopoly. The four corners. The railroad icons. The utility icons. The color stripe at the top of each property. The text and images on the Chance and Community Chest cards. Chance and Community Chest. The names of the properties. The rules. Starting to get the picture? The better question is what is not copyrighted. -opoly is not. 40 spaces on the board isn’t. Color groups are not. Check out any -opoly game by Late for the Sky and you’ll see exactly what you can do.

By: donyute13

donyute13 — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 00:48:43 +0000

You are asking for free advice pertaining to law. There are more people in law school than there are lawyers roaming the earth for a reason. They didn’t all that time and money on a law degree to get stiffed.

So consult your local attorney!

By: Scott C

Scott C — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 00:48:43 +0000

It would most likley have to be the name. You probably can’t call your game Monopoly, call it something else. Don’t even call it island Monopoly or whatever, name it something original.

You can probably make the game exactly similar to it but you have to name all the stuff differently, and try to throw in a few new rules of your own.

By: Titania R

Titania R — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 00:48:43 +0000

Either you ask them first or you don’t sell it.

By: PS3 Gamer

PS3 Gamer — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 00:48:43 +0000

Actually, you are not the first to come up with this idea. There are actually several stores that sell custom (make your own) versions of the Monopoly game.

Try searching "Make Your Ownopoly" on yahoo and you should see several websites offering this. Also, since THEY are the ones offering customization, they have taken care of the licensing, etc.

Good luck.

By: J E M

J E M — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 00:48:43 +0000

Are you just trying to make one to play with friends? Copyright laws don’t factor in if you don’t try to sell it. And, if this is the case, like someone else said, you can buy Make Your Own Monopoly kits.

If you are trying to sell it my guess would be that everything is copy written: The name, the layout, the design, the logos. Everything.