61–70 of 117 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
but you can patent it.
If this is true, why wouldn't Microsoft patent the taskbar or directory structure tree layout pattern in Explorer? I don't think you would be granted a design (let alone utility) patent that is as broad as "green and yellow blocks have significance, is a grid of 5x6, and has a keyboard below". Not a lawyer though so what do I know
> In a statement to 404 Media, the Times said: > > The Times has no issue with individuals creating similar word games that do not infringe The Times’s “Wordle” trademarks or copyrighted gameplay. Can you really copyright “gameplay”? This seems like pointless bullying by the Times, who is probably just upset they haven’t got a positive ROI on their acquisition of a free game.
I can't prove it, but I am quite sure NYT got a positive ROI on the acquisition of Wordle. They paid in the low single millions of USD, which isn't much for a brand as big as Wordle had become by then (2 million+ daily players) and it's been used to drive new digital subscriptions [1]. It's diminished somewhat since then but it has remarkable staying power. I can tell that from the Google Trends data [2] as well as t…
If someone makes a FOSS version that can be easily dropped onto a public server somewhere, then we should all host a Wordle clone. (I'm sure the code has already been written a thousand times over…)
> In a statement to 404 Media, the Times said: > > The Times has no issue with individuals creating similar word games that do not infringe The Times’s “Wordle” trademarks or copyrighted gameplay. Can you really copyright “gameplay”? This seems like pointless bullying by the Times, who is probably just upset they haven’t got a positive ROI on their acquisition of a free game.
Gameplay can't be copyrighted, but in the case of Worldle, the word lists are probably copyrightable. Any clone that derives their own word list is probably fine, but any clone that copy/pastes the exact word lists from wordle (especially the shorter list of 2,315 possible solutions) is probably infringing copyright.
However, to be copyrightable, the arrangement has to be expressive, i.e., it must "possess the requisite originality because the author . . . chooses . . . in what order to place them."
My strong suspicion is that Wordle's word list is randomized. Not a chosen expression of the author.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
but you can patent it.
No you can't.
If you’re looking for a Wordle game they can’t take from you, Wordyl on Game Boy is one I’ve been enjoying :) https://bbbbbr.itch.io/gb-wordyl
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The New York Times — which purchased Wordle back in 2022 — has filed several DMCA notices over Wordle clones created by GitHub coders, citing its ownership over the Wordle name and copyrighted gameplay including 5x6 tile layout and gray, yellow, and green color scheme.
This smells very similar to the issue with the tetris clone a number of years ago. The overall issue is that while games aren't copyrightable, the look and feel of a game can be copyrighted. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetris_Holding,_LLC_v._Xio_Int...
> In a statement to 404 Media, the Times said: > > The Times has no issue with individuals creating similar word games that do not infringe The Times’s “Wordle” trademarks or copyrighted gameplay. Can you really copyright “gameplay”? This seems like pointless bullying by the Times, who is probably just upset they haven’t got a positive ROI on their acquisition of a free game.