Scrabble Squabble

If you're a Facebook user, you might be one of the more than millions of people who play "Scrabulous," an online word-game similar to the classic board-game "Scrabble." The game is so similar in fact that Hasbro, the makers of "Scrabble," is calling it a copyright violation, via the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). They have since sent cease-and-desist letters to both Facebook and the developers of "Scrabulous."

"Scrabulous" first appeared online in 2005, the creation of two Indian entrepreneurs, Rajat Agarwalla and Jayant Agarwalla. It wasn't until June of '07 that it became a hit thanks to Facebook. The game now boasts nearly 2.3 million players, more than 500,000 of which play on a daily basis – more than enough to make Hasbro take notice. (In the UK, Mattel holds the copyright for Scrabulous.)

Shervin Pishevar, president of SGN, the Social Games Network, which creates original content for sites such as Facebook, suggested to me in a phone conversation that part of the reason for Hasbro's interest is that social gaming represents a new wrinkle – and a growing opportunity – in the gaming space.

Pointing to the number of players who have signed up for SGN's original titles such WarBook, Pishevar says "in order to create success, you don't have to copy games." Adding that the future of social gaming rests on innovation – not imitation.

Hasbro's cease-and-desist to Facebook and Scrabulous has inspired thousands of players to organize in dozens of groups on Facebook, hoping to encourage the games giant to find a way to resolve the issue amicably versus shutting down the game completely.

The conflict also represents a new wrinkle in Digital Copyright.

New Zealander Roger Nesbitt, who created another popular Facebook word-game "Boggilific," also received a cease-and-desist notice from Hasbro – claiming his game infringed on their copyright for "Boggle."

Reached via Facebook, Nesbitt told me his first impression when he received the notice was "well, it's all over then." He then posted a message about the situation on the game's page and received such flood of responses he was inspired to keep the game going. In an e-mail, Nesbitt explained "a crash course in copyright law taught me that game concepts could not be copyrighted – which is what the DMCA covers." Nesbitt recently changed the name of his game and relaunched as "Prolific," noting he hasn't heard from Hasbro since.

Hasbro declined our request to comment on this story.

Matt West, CNN Entertainment Producer

Posted by: Facebook, Scrabulous
Filed under: Games