🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Dec18.143639.3778@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> cwatters@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Coyt D Watters) writes:

>Parker Brothers had to chase down a lot of people who were translating the 
>popular Monopoly and Risk games into computer versions without licensing 
>them.  Too many of these, and the copyright holders can "lose" the copyright
>to the public domain.

    Just a minor point here.  Monopoly and Risk as games were not in danger
of falling to the public domain.  No copyrighted work can be uncopyrighted by
just the fact that many people write copies of the game.  However, trademarks
are a different matter.  The public overuse of a trademark (Xerox comes to
mind) can result in it no longer being a private trademark.  It might be the
case that Parker Brothers was worried about people "calling" thier games
Monopoly and Risk, therefore losing the name to the public domain, but never
the actual game itself.

     Old copyrights are still good copyrights.  It doesn't matter if the game
is no longer published, since the exclusive right of distribution lies with
the copyright holder.  The copyright is good at least for the life of the
creator.  So, all you MULE game writers should consult the copyright holder.


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