The DAO has hired 3 separate law firms in the United States of America to confirm and validate the following information:
There is no copyright infringement for anyone to use the word (or even the name) Monopoly.
Monopoly is a common word and cannot, by itself, be copyrighted.
Hasbro, Inc. the owner of the game “Monopoly” has no copyright to Monopoly. They hold the copyright to the game that is incorporated with and identified by the world Monopoly.
In the year 1983, Monopoly lost the trademark battle in the courts. Here is the (originally published) New York Times article:
https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/23/business/monopoly-loses-its-trademark.html
The character and/or “mascot” for the original Monopoly, is not trademarked or owned by any individual or company.
In 1935 SAIC alum and political cartoonist Frankling “F.O.” Alexander was asked to provide the illustrations and design for Parker Brothers’ Monopoly board game.
He created characters such as Rich Uncle Pennybags, Jake the Jailbird, and the “Go to Jail” Officer Edgar Mallory. Unfortunately, Alexander did not collect $200 for his contributions; in fact, the artist never received a penny.
Parker Brothers has never officially owned the rights to the original character design, nor does Hasbro, Inc. (who acquired Parker Brothers).
No one-person or entity can copyright this character, and any alterations of him are fully free of any copyright or trademark laws.
How else do you think the very talented street artist, Alec Monopoly, has been able to sell tens-of-millions of dollars worth of art since 2008 without any legal troubles. (you the man Alec!)
Not a Bro… Hasbro
Meta Monopoly is a blockchain based play-2-earn game hosted on Ethereum, that isn’t owned by any one person or single entity. Meta Monopoly is a DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) and is community owned with no one-person or singular entity.
Meta Monopoly is a crypto-gamified concept that has its own unique set of rules and features of gameplay, that is in no way similar to any rules or gameplay of the original Monopoly game.
