Facebook Asked To Remove Scrabulous

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Mattel has asked Facebook to remove Scrabulous from the site because they say it infringes on their copyright. There has been no comment from Facebook yet.

The U.S. and Canada rights to Scrabble are owned by Hasbro Inc, the world's second-largest toy and game company, while the biggest, Mattel Inc, has the rest of the world. "Letters have been sent to Facebook in the United States regarding the Scrabulous application," said a Mattel spokeswoman in Britain.
 
I could be wrong here but aren't the applications for Facebook written by seperate third parties? Assuming this to be the case, would Facebook necessarily be infringing on copyright because someone coded a scrabble clone for use on Facebook?
 
lol, people will do anything for a dime.
 
lol, people will do anything for a dime.
They're not suing.
Also, I think it still infringes. I don't know the app in question, but I bet if I went and wrote an OS that functioned excatly like Windows and called ir Windose instead, I think MS would have a fit. Rightfully so, as well.
 
So really, all they should do is change the name to something less similar to Scrabble ;).

They're not suing.
Also, I think it still infringes. I don't know the app in question, but I bet if I went and wrote an OS that functioned excatly like Windows and called ir Windose instead, I think MS would have a fit. Rightfully so, as well.
 
Facebook should just go ahead and remove whatever app is causing such problems, because at least it wouldn't cost anything to do so.

I was actually surprised when I DIDN'T see the words 'infringe' and 'copyright' together with words like 'lawsuit' or '$ X million."

And to be honest, I think facebook should get rid of most of its applications anyway, since IMO most of it is junk. No I don't want a speed racer, nor do I want to be someone's fluffy pet.
 
Facebook should just go ahead and remove whatever app is causing such problems, because at least it wouldn't cost anything to do so.

I was actually surprised when I DIDN'T see the words 'infringe' and 'copyright' together with words like 'lawsuit' or '$ X million."

And to be honest, I think facebook should get rid of most of its applications anyway, since IMO most of it is junk. No I don't want a speed racer, nor do I want to be someone's fluffy pet.
There's just something about taking the higher road in a lot of things. I think Mattel did alright in this case. Instead of instantly jumping on the lawsuit waggon, they are asking them to remove it. Smart. I now look at them with a little bit brighter light than I would if I saw that.
Ball's in FB's court, if you ask me.
 
'"Letters have been sent to Facebook in the United States regarding the Scrabulous application," said a Mattel spokeswoman in Britain. '

Unfortunately, those letters were X,Q, and P, and you really can't make anything good with them.
 
'"Letters have been sent to Facebook in the United States regarding the Scrabulous application," said a Mattel spokeswoman in Britain. '

Unfortunately, those letters were X,Q, and P, and you really can't make anything good with them.

Nice! :D
 
'"Letters have been sent to Facebook in the United States regarding the Scrabulous application," said a Mattel spokeswoman in Britain. '

Unfortunately, those letters were X,Q, and P, and you really can't make anything good with them.

Thanks. I needed that. :D
 
And to be honest, I think facebook should get rid of most of its applications anyway, since IMO most of it is junk. No I don't want a speed racer, nor do I want to be someone's fluffy pet.

God, quoted for such damn truth. This application spam is pissing me the hell off. i.e

requests.jpg
 
They need to remove all the stupid applications off facebook. I use it as a means of getting a hold of old friends, but when I come back to check my requests or messages, I get dozens of requests to add their stupid applications. It is so annoying.
 
Depends on what is covered under trademark and copyright.
As I understand it, the actual rules of a game can't be copyrighted, just the game board graphics and instruction text. Trademark covers the Scrabble game name and logo, which Scrabulous is not using.

I don't think Mattel has much of a case.
 
They're not suing.
Also, I think it still infringes. I don't know the app in question, but I bet if I went and wrote an OS that functioned excatly like Windows and called ir Windose instead, I think MS would have a fit. Rightfully so, as well.

Why the hell would anyone in their right mind code an OS to function exactly like Windows?! If anything, you would get sued for being retarded.
 
I have a cd game call "Microshaft Winblows (or was it windoze) 98...99..00.."
That is a total parody of the whole microsoft clan. I dont think it was a big seller, but it was fun.
 
I have a cd game call "Microshaft Winblows (or was it windoze) 98...99..00.."
That is a total parody of the whole microsoft clan. I dont think it was a big seller, but it was fun.

I remember seeing that in a store once... :eek: .

'"Letters have been sent to Facebook in the United States regarding the Scrabulous application," said a Mattel spokeswoman in Britain. '

Unfortunately, those letters were X,Q, and P, and you really can't make anything good with them.

Zing!
 
Apart from the name, that's happening, http://www.reactos.org/en/index.html

That's reverse engineering. Unethical but legal in most cases as long as they don't use a name similar to Windows.

A company called ARDI tried to do it with Apple System 7 a long time ago and succeeded. I actually used their software to run a mac application on my Windows 98 PC. They have since gone bankrupt.
 
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