Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!zorch!vsi1!lmb From: lmb@vsi1.UUCP (Larry Blair) Newsgroups: comp.sources.d Subject: Re: Legal aspects of Computer version of the game RISK Keywords: Copyright, Legal, RISK and Yahtzee (The Games) Message-ID: <934@vsi1.UUCP> Date: 17 Aug 88 00:06:01 GMT References: <364@soleil.UUCP> <3309@crash.cts.com> <3498@rayssd.ray.com> Reply-To: lmb@vsi1.UUCP (Larry Blair) Organization: VICOM Systems Inc., San Jose, CA Lines: 17 In article <3498@rayssd.ray.com> gmp@rayssd.RAY.COM (Gregory M. Paris) writes: =In article <3309@crash.cts.com> andym@crash.CTS.COM (Andy Micone) writes: => A computer game version of a copyrighted board game is a derivative work, => and you cannot produce and distribute a computer game version of RISK => without risking legal action against you. By having a copyright, Parker => Brothers has exclusive rights to all derivative works of the board game. = =Sorry for so much included text, but I had wondered about this when the =computer version of Yahtzee was posted to comp.sources.games a while =back. It would seem to me that the author (and distributor?) of that =game would be in the same boat as the hypothetical RISK computer-gamer =mentioned above. True? The copyright, if there was one, for Yahtzee has long has long since expired. I've forgotten the exact date it was invented (it was a question on Jeopardy! recently), but it is a very old game. Besides, isn't Yahtzee a derivative of poker?