Scrabulous reincarnated on Facebook as Wordscraper

Note: This post has been updated to include more detailed comment from Hasbro, an interview with a Wordscraper player and legal analysis from an intellectual property attorney.

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Scrabulous is back on Facebook, but with a new name and a different look.

The Scrabble knockoff that was pulled from Facebook on Tuesday by its creators over a copyright and trademark dispute was brought back to life late Wednesday. It's now called Wordscraper.

The game play is very similar to Scrabulous, aside from a few tweaks, such as round letter tiles instead of square, a new point system and a few different ways of playing.

So, will this satisfy Hasbro, which owns the North American rights to Scrabble and sued the India-based creators of Scrabulous last week? The company won't say, but instead issued this statement:

Hasbro has an obligation to protect its intellectual property and will act appropriately when necessary. We recently filed a lawsuit against the developers of the infringing Scrabulous application, and we are pleased that the unlawful application has been removed from Facebook. We evaluate every situation on a case-by-case basis and have no comment regarding the Scrabulous developers’ new application at this time.

Here's what a copyright and Internet lawyer told us Wednesday before Wordscraper appeared:

Q: What if the creators of Scrabulous were to change the name to “XYZ Game” and tweak the board and point system for their application. Would that make it legally permissible?
A: People are always free to create their own original games. But if they copy the creative expression of a third party, or they try to mimic the logos or trademarks for a famous brand, they will typically be enjoined. Intellectual property law protects against copying and unfair competition. But people are always allowed to engage in fair competition, which would require them to create their own original game. The law requires a minimal level of “original and creative expression” to be entitled to copyright protection. 

Meanwhile, the official version of Scrabble for Facebook, which Electronic Arts created for Hasbro, is back online after what EA called a malicious attack that took the game down.

So what do Scrabulous fans think? Stanley Kim, a 34-year-old in Palo Alto, started a game at 7 a.m. today. So far, he liked the ability to customize the game's layout and scoring system. "You can even replicate the layout of Scrabulous," Kim said. "It's got some nice features. But graphically, it takes getting used to."

Kim said he was "surprisingly saddened" when he learned that Scrabulous had been taken down this week. "I thought it was just a little time-filler. But I really missed the trash-talking with friends. There are some friends I don't get to see that much, but I played Scrabulous with them."

Kim turned to Hasbro's authorized Scrabble game. But none of his friends wanted to play with him.  "All of my friends are really upset with Hasbro and Electronic Arts, and they didn't want to have anything to do with the game," Kim said. "And when I tried to fiddle with it, it crashed on me. So I gave up."

Ironically, Scrabulous rekindled a long-forgotten interest in Hasbro's board game for Kim. "I hadn't played Scrabble for like 20 years," he said. "After I started playing Scrabulous, I bought the board game. Now I actually play Scrabble."   

-- Alex Pham

Image: Wordscraper

Comments

[trojanwahine]

I tried the Hasbro version offered through Facebook. It was clunky and awful. I wondered if the designers even played Scrabble. They should be embarassed.

[Shakes]

i can't believe i just read this article.

[Jason]

Hasbro should have just bought Scrabbulous from those indian guys, renamed it, and put it back on Facebook. Then everyone wins.

[mike]

rename it? I thought the name was the best part.

[Steph W]

I've been playing both the EA Scrabble and Wordscraper today and I must say I like the EA version a lot better. Well, because it feels like real Scrabble, like Scrabulous did, whereas Wordscraper just doesn't have the same feel. And why invent your own rules? What's wrong with the regular Scrabble rules? I like the original Scrabble, and that's why I loved Scrabulous so much. I actually didn't even know about the EA game til this whole brouhaha erupted. So far no technical issues with the EA game--at least they're offering it for free, which I do appreciate.

[Chas]

"Hasbro should have just bought Scrabbulous from those indian guys, renamed it, and put it back on Facebook. Then everyone wins."

Hasbro tried to buy it from them, and they refused to sell. So, now they get sued. They were stupid, if they would have sold it they would have gotten to keep all of the money they earned off of it. Instead, they'll lose it all.

[Hasbro SUX]

Chas,

you are wrong. According to NPR, Hasbro decided they did NOT want a partner in the Scrabble internet game (even though they definitely peddle a clunky and inferior product compared to Scrabulous) and played hardball. Hasbro never offered to buy or to make the guys collaborators.

You made up the part about "...and they refused to sell." Similarly I can also make up this part: YOU MUST WORK FOR HASBRO.