united-states copyright
Can I recreate the Risk board game for personal use?
<p>My friend wants to make a 'risk table', which would have the risk board carved into it, as part of a larger game board challenge.  He would be making all the pieces and the board himself.</p>

<p>I'm wondering if he can do this legally, assuming he stops using the word Risk?  The game mechanics can not be patented, so in that regard he is safe.  He would, however, be remaking the board itself which I assume is copyrighted.  Since the board is just the world map divided into specific countries I don't know if this counts as 'recreating' the board?  </p>

<p>Is the fact that he is using the same countries that the original risk board used enough to count as recreating the board/game?</p>

<p>The board is more complicated than you describe.  It is a somewhat stylized world map, broken up into regions that do not necessarily correspond to countries.  They have names that don't necessarily express what the region is geographically (particularly Ukraine, which extends far to the north of real-world Ukraine).  There are defined water routes between certain regions that do not touch.  Someone else starting from a world map would be very unlikely to duplicate the Risk board.  I believe your friend's board would count as a derivative work.</p>

<p>Now, the copyright holder is highly unlikely to come after your friend.  I've seen stories of people who made their own X boards, publicized them, and the game company did nothing about it.  The company (Hasbro?  they own most of those games) would likely consider it as an extra bit of publicity.</p>
