Parker Brothers bought the patent for Monopoly in 1935 from inventor Elizabeth Magie. Magie had patented two forms of the game. The first patent, Monopoly I, was filed in 1904. That patent expired in 1921, so she filed a second patent (Monopoly II) in 1924. Magie sold the game, originally called The Landlord’s Game, to Parker Brothers for $500.00. Today Hasbro owns the rights to the game. Children could learn about Magie at: Elizabeth Magie.
Scrabble was copyrighted by James Brunot in 1948. Alfred Butts created the game, originally called Lexico, in 1931. Butts based the amount of letters by analyzing letter frequencies on the first pages of The New York Times and other print sources. Butts sold Scrabble to Brunot in 1948 in exchange for a royalty on every unit sold. Brunot and his family struggled for a while trying to make Scrabble profitable. Then it became so profitable they could not meet demand. Today Hasbro has the United States and Canada rights, and Mattel sells the game in all other countries. It is sold in 121 countries and in 30 languages. Children could learn more at: Scrabble.