So, Hasbro is suing Facebook. Turns out they don't like it when you play Scrabble online. Well, not Scrabble®. "Scrabulous", an obvious rip-off.
Except here's the thing. You can't copyright a game. Not the rules. You can copyright the words in your rules booklet. You can copyright the image of the board. But if I change the colors and font of a scrabble board, and rephrase the rules in my own words, it's totally legal.
Because game rules aren't creative expression, while drawings and photographs and paragraphs expressing ideas are. I think this is fair. I hope judges kick Hasbro to the curb, too.
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