Scrabbling Copyright

A recent suit in India, followed by Hasbro, over an online version of Scrabble called Scrabulous shows another side of social networking sites: the ability to change a gaming experience between two people into one taking place over continents, involving, it is reported, 2.3 million daily users on Facebook. Permission was allegedly sought, but not received; not surprising since Hasbro granted Electronic Arts exclusive rights. But I don't think EA had put out a social networking version, which is reportedly quite addictive, and can be played out over days, not hours, and across continents, not just living rooms. (I played Candyland with my twins this morning, so traditional board games are still viable too).

There are unauthorized versions of other games, including of Hasbro's Monopoly and Boggle, but in those cases, the games were altered. Copyright in games extends only to the graphic elements and textual explanations, not to the way the game is played, so it is possible to make some changes and avoid infringement. The reaction of fans of Scrabulous Hasbro's actions has not been positive.