Law School Exam Hypothetical of the Day

[heidi]

I know that some people believe that if TPTB (the powers that be) ask a fan to stop doing something, the fan(s) in question should immediately stop, no questions asked (except maybe to confirm that the request really came from TPTB and isn't a hoax).

Last week, Hasbro sued the guys who created Scrabulous as a Facebook app, claiming copyright and trademark infringement. So now, there's a lot of irate former Scrabulous users who are calling for a boycott of Hasbro, a return of Scrabulous, etc.

No, the situations aren't completely analogous, but there are similarities - the IP owner is upset about an action they view as infringing and asks the entity they believe infringing to stop and....

Do you think that the Scrabulous creators - who are fans of the Scrabble game (which is protected by copyright and trademark laws), who created something similar and yet with strong and obvious differences - should have removed their game as soon as Hasbro asked them to?

[Poll #1232503]

I'm really curious as to what people who have legal backgrounds would think and do, versus what lay-people would think and do, but I'm not really sure how to ask that in the poll without it getting very unwieldy.

Comments

[titti]

I think a fan's response to a request from TPTB would depend on the circumstances, although most often than not, I'd say don't take it down, especially if it's NOT trademark.

I think the Scrabulous situation would depend on economics of it.

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

Jayant Agarwalla, 21, told The New York Times in an article published over the weekend that they did not create Scrabulous to make money, even though they now collect about $25,000 a month from online advertising. They just wanted to play Scrabble on their computers, and their favorite (unauthorized) site had started charging, he said.

NY Times, back in March (it's now the second link in the post)

[titti]

I meant more the economics of being sued or not. I wasn't really making a moral judgement.

I love how NO ONE said that the fans should comply. *g*