| File:Scrabulous logo.gif | |
Type of site | Casual game |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Founded | Kolkata, India (July 5 2006) |
| Headquarters | Kolkata, India |
| Key people | Rajat Agarwalla, Co-founder Jayant Agarwalla, Co-founder |
| Services | Online word game |
| Employees | 2 (January 2008)
|
| URL | www.scrabulous.com |
| Registration | Required |
| Launched | 2005 |
| Current status | Active |
Scrabulous is an online gaming site for playing the word game Scrabulous, based on the highly popular board game, Scrabble. Launched in 2005 and added to Facebook as an application in 2007, Scrabulous was founded by Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla, both commerce graduates of St. Xavier's College, Kolkata. While Scrabulous initially offered only the regular version of the game, many variations and options have gradually been made available.
Scrabulous.com was created at the end of 2005,[1] after the Agarwallas felt the need for a free gaming site where the popular game could be played. It was initially made available as BingoBinge.com. On July 5 2006, the site was moved to Scrabulous.com. A new logo was introduced in January 2008.
The website has 20,000 registered users[1], but after the developers made an application for the popular social networking website Facebook it has been added to 840,000 user pages[2] and more than 500,000 daily users,[3][4] giving it "the most active users of any game that can be played over Facebook".[5]
There are certain legal issues involved in Scrabulous, since it very closely resembles Scrabble, exactly copying the board layout, number of tiles and rules, and having a very similar name. According to Anthony Falzone, head of the Fair Use Project at Stanford University, copyright laws do not allow someone to freely copy the particular expression of an idea.[6] In his article in the Wall Street Journal, Jamin Brophy-Warren has said that Hasbro Inc has refused to comment on legal matters, while the creators have mentioned informing the company about their site.[7] The former Scrabulous website made several references to Scrabble, and previously promoted itself as the best place to play Scrabble online.[8]
In January 2008 it was reported that Hasbro has begun the process to attempt to shut down Scrabulous.[9] Facebook has also been asked to remove Scrabulous as an available application due to the legal challenges.[10] Currently the game has not been removed by Facebook, who has refused to confirm Hasbro's request to remove the game [11].
As of February 2008, the term Scrabulous has been registered as a trademark and service mark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, but no final determination has been made.[12]
Scrabulous fans have reacted to Hasbro's announcement, asking Facebook to shut it down, by creating a group called Save Scrabulous [13] on Facebook [4]. Reportedly more than sixteen thousand fans have joined this group [4]. The group has created a petition at the online petition site PetitionOnline where more than eight thousand six hundred people have signed to date. It has also been reported that fans have been writing to Hasbro and Mattel demanding that the companies make "the right decision" [4].