Games @sh.itjust.works nanoUFO @sh.itjust.works 4 mo. ago

NYTimes Files Copyright Takedown Against Hundreds of Wordle Clones

www.404media.co NYTimes Files Copyright Takedown Against Hundreds of Wordle Clones

The takedown is also affecting games that definitively aren't Wordle.

39 comments

New York Times really is hurting for money, huh?

I mean, in the USA you cannot copyright or trademark the broad gameplay mechanics theyre claiming to own (even specific gameplay mechanics like portals from Portal), nor would those be protectable under DMCA, so everything theyre trying to claim will be immediately tossed out of court.

Theyre literally trying to copy Nintendo. They dont want to go to court. They want settlement money.
- Somebody pointed out in another post that wordle is the same thing as a game show from the 80s, including the five letter words and the square colors being highlighted based on being in the word or in the right place.
  
  The New York Times is just bullying with nothing to stand on except the ability to spend more on lawyers than whoever they are suing.
  
  It's really just Mastermind with letters instead of colors. And they didn't even create Wordle either, they bought it from the original creator and tried to lock it up behind a paywall. I still sometimes get told I have to subscribe to play. I've mostly given up on it because it's lost it's appeal for me anyway.
  
  Not just 80s, Lingo was a popular game show that aired in the 2000s and (from what I heard from a redditor a couple years back) still airs in some countries. Wordle is a rip-off of Lingo.
  
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulls_and_cows
  
  That being said I do like the Wordly app cuz you can customize the length of the words, and some other tweaks.
  
  Game design isn't copyrightable. Code is, they could have a case if someone literally copied the code (which is very easy given its all run in browser).
  
  Meanwhile, NYT's Connections is basically a direct rip of Only Connect's connections wall round
- Or they want to bully smaller devs who don't have the resources to fight them to close down.
- Not calling you out, just curious: are you a lawyer?
I hate copyright and the notion of buying creative ownership. They didn't make Wordle, they shouldnt have any control over it.
- That implies that the creator should have control. And doesn't control imply the right to sell?
  
  But they don't have control over the clones, copyright don't extend that far
  
  no, you no longer control it. now someone else does by virtue of money
New York Crimes
Well, I know what my next project will be
TOOTH
Bruh
tooth
lol
Don't you touch my sedecordle!
Sorry bitch, you can't copyright the rules of a game.

You've viewed 39 comments.