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pewpewpewouch t1_jegmq5p wrote

To lazy to look it up, but i think it's Hasbro who owns the rights? So Hasbro has a monopoly on Monopoly. Monopoly in itself is not a brand.

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formerlyanonymous_ t1_jego9t1 wrote

Masterminds at Hasbro have Monopoly on Life, the Game of. Get a Clue.

Sorry! They Acquire so many high Risk boardgames like Magic. It Scabbles my ability to comment with any Diplomacy I might Boggle.brain gets Crossfired, Buckaroo.

D&D

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jdp111 t1_jegrtso wrote

It's also not really a monopoly to have your own unique game.

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Halsti t1_jegsvsy wrote

well.. ish. You cannot copyright rules of a game. the name "Monopoly" is trademarked, just like the monopoly man, so no one can make a game called monopoly. so in that way, you are right.

but anyone could make a game that works 100% exactly the same as monopoly. you have to make sure you dont break copyright on anything. so they would have to name it something else, give all the spaces different names, design a new board and write their own version of the rule book, that describes the rules exactly the same, BUT you could make the exact same game, with a different name.

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brandonade t1_jegv2m2 wrote

but thing is that there exists no relevant game like Monopoly, hense why we could say hasbro has a monopoly over monopoly

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Splice1138 t1_jegyiqx wrote

You can find plenty of knock off *-opoly games on store shelves. You can even order a custom one

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UnhingedBeluga t1_jeh1sjb wrote

Can confirm. I used to be gifted all sorts of knockoff -opoly games as a kid, even though I hated playing monopoly

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TaliesinMerlin t1_jegu2q4 wrote

It literally doesn't. People can freely reproduce near copies of Monopoly. (Long story why.) As long as the games don't use the actual visual assets or the exact written rules, I think they're okay. Hence we have many souvenir versions of Monopoly.

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oiwah t1_jeh2fzt wrote

I remember playing a board game named Millionaires game. Think it was a knock off of monopoly. Does it count as a competition?

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tallerthnu t1_jegrekb wrote

I'm not sure if that is actually true. Have you ever noticed that sometimes a game is called like Monopoly Cats, versus Cat-opoly?

I'm pretty sure Hasbro only owns the rights on the Monopoly name, and other companies can make their own unlicensed game if they change the names and fonts just enough.

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GoldenFrank t1_jegyd8m wrote

Several of the key copyright-able aspects of the game have had those copyrights expired and the main mechanics are now in the public domain which is why you saw an explosion of "(noun)-opoly" clones hit the market all at the same time. Hasbro owns "Monopoly" and "Rich Uncle Pennybags" but no longer a square board with 11 spaces per side with properties for sale where players can charge rent once they purchase.

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wombey12 t1_jegsh59 wrote

The gameplay/concept would remain the same, and they can easily get caught out that way.

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AduroTri t1_jeh3d66 wrote

And YOU must be the Monopoly guy.

Hey

Thanks for the free parking.

1