Re: yearbook with Monopoly theme

Subject: Re: Re: yearbook with Monopoly theme

Comments:
: I assume your concern is primarily due to the similarity to the famous Monopoly game. : To the extent any patents were issued for the game, I suspect they've long since expired since the game has been around for several decades at least. Of course, that doesn't mean you won't infringe other patents, but (i) I think it's unlikely because of the "printed matter" exclusion and (ii) I have the general sense that there's not much "new" (in the patent sense) in what you're doing, so patent liability is probably a relatively low risk. : That leaves copyright. First, I don't practice copyright law, and this is specifically a patent forum. Your question would be better addressed in the copyright forum. : Having said that, thanks to Sonny Bono's widow and Walt Disney, we now have the Sonny Bono Perpetual Royalty Act of 2002(1?) (not really called that, but that's what it is). That means, it's possible that the copyright to Monopoly has not and will never expire. Of course, Monopoly is quite old and copyright laws were different then. But consider this: "Steamboat Willey" (Mickey Mouse's first film from some time around the 1920s, I believe) is still protected by copyright. Every time that copyright is about to expire, Disney Co. lobbies Congress heavily and the copyright term is extended, now into perpetuity (despite the Constitution's language "for a limited time"). : So, copyright may be a legitimate concern for you. : Of course, this is all a general discussion of IP law and not legal advice specific to your issue. For that, you should sit down with someone who really knows the law and explain your situation in detail. : Having said that, my intuitive sense (and not any real legal opinion) is that your risk is relatively low. If you do this one year in your yearbook and that's it, it's unlikely to draw much attention (and may even be seen as advertising for free). It also looks bad for a game company to sue children (which is how it would look). Then again, the RIAA is suing kids for sharing music files and Disney once threatened to sue my wife's daycare center for showing Disney videos parents would bring in (y'know, public performance and all....). It's a crazy time right now.... : I hope that helps in some way. : Regards. : : : I'm a middle school yearbook advisor and we'd like the theme of our yearbook to be "Ridgeviewopoly". We would also like to have different areas of the school be "properties" in our book. Students would do all of the drawings. I'm concerned, though, that this could be a copyright/patent infringement. I'm not sure where to find out! Thanks for any information you can provide.

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