From Scrabulous to Wordscraper - What's in a Name?

In a previous issue of E-TIPS®, ("Unauthorized Online Scrabble and the Changing Face of Board Games", Vol 6, No 19, March 26, 2008Vol 6 No 19, March 26, 2008), we reported that Hasbro and Mattel had threatened legal action against the developers of "Scrabulous", an online game resembling "SCRABBLE", and that, in addition, they had asked Facebook to shut down the version appearing on its web site. In early July, Electronic Arts released an official electronic version of Hasbro's SCRABBLE for American and Canadian Facebook users. Approximately two weeks later, Hasbro, the owner of rights to SCRABBLE in the US and Canada, launched its lawsuit against the developers of Scrabulous. Hasbro asserted that the Scrabulous game infringed Hasbro's trade-mark rights and copyright associated with SCRABBLE. On July 29, Scrabulous was shut down and taken from the Facebook web site for American and Canadian users. Less than 48 hours after the shut-down, the developers of Scrabulous launched a new game for Facebook users called "Wordscraper". Wordscraper differs more from Scrabble than did its predecessor, Scrabulous. It has circular tiles, a different points system and a redesigned board which gives users the option to customize the board. This customization option allows users, for example, to move the location of Wordscraper "double word" and "triple letter" squares. Mattel, owner of the rights to SCRABBLE outside the US and Canada, has not launched a lawsuit against the makers of Scrabulous. For a news article on the shut-down of Scrabulous, see: http://tinyurl.com/5kskyg For a news article on the advent of Wordscraper, visit: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10003366-36.html Summary by: Oren Weichenberg