Sneaky. They released a new variation called Wordscraper: http://apps.facebook.com/wordscraper
You can make your own custom boards, it seems, but otherwise it's the same game so far.
Screenshot: http://screencast.com/t/Cb1m0kGeVh
Scrabulous shut down on Facebook
11–20 of 30 posts
Re: Scrabulous shut down on Facebook
#12It is a bit of a surprise that Scrabulous, an obvious copy of the board game Scrabble, managed to avoid shutdown as long as it did. So what if it's a copy? You cannot copyright a game: http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl108.html What Scrabulous should have done is to modify their name so it's not even similar to Scrabble (and doesn't share a syllable and a half) and they should have fought this in a court. They've made e…
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Re: Scrabulous shut down on Facebook
#13In my opinion, this is exactly how copyright should work, instead of the sue grandma bullshit we have now.
Hasbro has exclusive rights to Scrabble that is pretty distinctive in brand and shape. Trademark, not copyright protects both the brand and the design of the board. Hasbro would have a case here, rest assured.
What we have here is a situation where one party is making money based on the IP of another, including using the brand's strength to attract attention. If that isn't outright IP infringement, we may as well get rid of the whole concept.
We're all better off that this didn't get to the courts. If Hasbro had lost, you can all but guarantee that there would be new and even more restrictive measures put in place to protect IP.
Scrabulous violated the spirit of the law, if not the letter. Those of us who already feel the letter of the law goes too far shouldn't be supporting these guys, honestly.
Re: Scrabulous shut down on Facebook
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
While it's true that you can't copyright a game, you can copyright parts of a game. For example, the game's artwork or the official Scrabble dictionary. I haven't actually played Scrabulous, but if they used the exact same board layout, that might be copyright infringement. Or, if they used the official word list, that might be copyright infringement. You can also copyright the text describing the rules of the game.…
You can't copyright a database of publicly available information (e.g. a dictionary, a phone book etc.): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feist_Publications_v._Rural_Tel... Some dictionaries have been inserting a fake word into their lists so that they can copyright that specific word and go after the infringer for using that word in their dictionaries. They can also copyright the definition of words. But you can't copyr…
See also:
"Fictitious entries"
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fictitious_entry)
"Ghost words" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_word)
Re: Scrabulous shut down on Facebook
#15It is a bit of a surprise that Scrabulous, an obvious copy of the board game Scrabble, managed to avoid shutdown as long as it did. So what if it's a copy? You cannot copyright a game: http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl108.html What Scrabulous should have done is to modify their name so it's not even similar to Scrabble (and doesn't share a syllable and a half) and they should have fought this in a court. They've made e…
You can't copyright the rules to the game. Any distinctive design elements can be copyrighted. But if those elements are dictated by the rules then they still cannot be copyrighted. Honestly I doubt that Hasbro could successfully pursue a copyright infringement case over Scrabulous. Scrabble has a very generic design which is mostly directly implemented from the rules. Hasbro's best bet would likely be a trademark cl…
Suing over the "copyright" for games is nothing new for Hasbro:
http://boardgames.about.com/library/news/bl000208a.htm http://www.insidemacgames.com/news/story.php?ArticleID=867
Re: Scrabulous shut down on Facebook
#16Or they could skip the hassle, negotiate a royalty with Hasbro, cut a little into their margins, and get on with it.
Re: Scrabulous shut down on Facebook
#17What do the letters D,M,C,A spell? I assume the Indian creators were too tough for Hasbro to negotiate a settlement with (good for them, not good for their addicted users).
Digital Millenium Copyright Act
Re: Scrabulous shut down on Facebook
#18Or they could skip the hassle, negotiate a royalty with Hasbro, cut a little into their margins, and get on with it.
Hasbro reportedly offered them a large sum and they turned it down. Serves 'em right.
Re: Scrabulous shut down on Facebook
#19Sneaky. They released a new variation called Wordscraper: http://apps.facebook.com/wordscraper You can make your own custom boards, it seems, but otherwise it's the same game so far. Screenshot: http://screencast.com/t/Cb1m0kGeVh
No, that's not the same game. "Similar" I will grant you, but if you are a Scrabble player than this substitute would never suffice.
Re: Scrabulous shut down on Facebook
#20i think what i find most appalling is how the electronic arts/hasbro scrabble app croaked this morning, presumably due to the incoming flood of scrabulous refugees.