Monopoly to sue over hip-hop game

The game claims to make fun of gangsta-rap and ghetto culture

The makers of board game Monopoly are to take legal action against spoof version Ghettopoly, which satirises hip-hop culture.

The game - based on the traditional family board game - became an instant hit when it went on sale in the US and Europe earlier this year

However, Hasbro, which makes Monopoly, is claiming copyright violation and trademark rights against its inventor.

The game sees players get rich through buying stolen properties.

Hasbro said the game had generated "a firestorm of controversy", adding that 28-year-old David Chang, who created the game, had caused "irreparable injury" to its business and goodwill.

Monopoly makers Hasbro object to Ghettopoly

"Hasbro will not tolerate Mr Chang's unlawful use of its intellectual property to sell the reprehensible Ghettopoly game," said Frank Bifulco, president of the company's US games division.

According to Mr Chang's website, the game also sees "playas" competing with each other by "pimpin' hoes, building crack houses and getting car jacked".

Instead of Monopoly's Park Place or Park Lane, Ghettopoly's properties include Westside Liquor, Harlem, Ling Ling's Massage Parlour or Tyron's Gun Shop.

But the game has caused outrage in the States. Earlier this month Urban Outfitters, one of the main retailers of the game in the US and Europe, decided to stop selling it, citing "customer concerns".

Ghettopoly sees "playas" competing to get rich

The move came shortly after the National Association For Advancement of Colored People called for the game to be banned, saying it encouraged discrimination and hate crimes.

Mr Chang has brushed aside all the charges, saying that Ghettopoly is just a fun game, satirising modern urban stereotypes.

"It draws on stereotypes not as a means to degrade, but as a medium to bring together in laughter," Mr Chang said on his website.

"If we can't laugh at ourselves... we'll continue to live in blame and bitterness."

He is planning further spoof versions of Monopoly, including Hoodopoly, Hiphopopoly, Thugopoly and Redneckopoly.

The original Monopoly was first created in 1935. It is now available in 26 languages and has sold an estimated 500 million copies.