In 2005 Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla created Scrabulous; by 2007 it went nuclear as a Facebook app. The social networking aspect of Facebook brought it a half-million daily players, giving users the ability to joust with friends and family across the world. While it is undeniable that Scrabulous has the "look and feel" of Hasbro Corp's Scrabble, let's look at that game through the lens of copyright law. What was first conceived in 1938 by an architect became ubiquitous: One in three U.S. homes has a Scrabble set. Apart from the fact that copyright does not protect board games, but expressions of ideas, and that Scrabble does have a copyright on the crossword puzzle writ large, its public tussle with the Agarwalla boys is the ongoing narrative of behind-the-curve traditional media that thinks that it can buy or bully its way back into fashion.
Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love
Subscribe to MediaVillage to receive email alerts featuring the latest content on advertising, media/TV, and marketing strategies and trends, including exclusive The Myers Report research findings.