Scrabulous Spells S-U-E-D for Indian Developers

Techtree News Staff, Jul 29, 2008 1320 hrs IST

The Indian duo behind the successful Scrabulous application on Facebook have been sued by Hasbro

Developers of the Scrabulous app on Facebook have been sued by Hasbro, which own the rights to Scrabble in North America. Hasbro has also sent a legal notice to Facebook asking them to block the game.

Scrabulous.com was originally launched by brothers Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla from India in 2005, and was recently made available as a free "add-on" for Facebook users. Scrabulous on Facebook is played by about half-million users daily, and bears a close resemblance to the word game Scrabble.

Back in January, Hasbro had threatened legal action against Scrabulous developers and Facebook. Now, the company has gone ahead and filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York. However, this suit holds little weight, since Scrabulous lists no assets in the US and a court decision there would need backing by India's legal system to be enforced, reports AFP.

So far Facebook has not blocked the application. In an official statement Facebook said, "Our hope and expectation is that the parties can resolve their disagreements in a manner that satisfies the parties, that continues to offer a great experience to gamers and that doesn't discourage other developers from using our platform to share creativity and test new ideas."

Meanwhile Agarwallas have appealed to their fans to remain loyal to Scrabulous. Click here for more.

USER COMMENTS

im scrabble player in turkey.every day i played in scrabulous.but its locked.where i can play.hasbro you are busterd.i wouldnt buy something for yours

by erdem, turkey, on Oct 02, 2008 06:26 PM, Report abuse Reply

I hope that Hasbro reaches a reasonable settlement with Scrabulous. It's a popular, awsome game that millions on Facebook play daily. They should consider either selling rights or partnering. I know I will be lost with the site down while the legal battle goes on.

by Terry, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on Jul 29, 2008 04:18 PM, Report abuse Reply

Hasbro: you are giving yourselves a bad name...you should be promoting your game in this delightful form-foolish, greedy people!

by Jude, Brantford, on Jul 30, 2008 05:44 PM, Report abuse Reply

It is not fair that Scrabulous has been blocked!! I am a daily player that feels lost without it. If anything Hasbro should be happy people are playing it and I bet their sales of the board game has gone up. I hope the Agarwallas win!!! Good luck guys! You have lots of fans :)

by Sandy Adams, Creemore, Ontario, Canada, on Jul 30, 2008 05:38 PM, Report abuse Reply

Hasbro's being unreasonable and just wants a few hundred-thousands of $$ coming into their already bloated pockets. What a shame, Bring Scrabulous back, we love it.

by Anja, FL, on Jul 30, 2008 04:23 PM, Report abuse Reply

I am not happy. I LOVE Scrabulous. I play it daily with many friends and family. BRING it BACK!

by mari, NJ, on Jul 30, 2008 04:01 AM, Report abuse Reply

I hope this is resolved soon. I miss playing the game already. Hasbro lighten up, and bring the game back!!

by Barbara MacNeil, Sydney N.S. Canada, on Jul 29, 2008 07:48 PM, Report abuse Reply

Hasbro's being unreasonable and just wants a few hundred-thousands of $$ coming into their already bloated pockets. All that money in the world couldn't pay for better developers....idiots. All this culture of suing whomever they please needs to go.

by Hasbro Blows, WV, on Jul 29, 2008 07:24 PM, Report abuse Reply

Bad mistake by Hasbro. I agree that having it online only helps promote the board game. I am extremley disappointed and will consider boycotting Hasbro products.

by Jenny, Orlando, on Jul 29, 2008 06:18 PM, Report abuse Reply

What a shame! Hasbro sucks. Glad I bought all my Scrabble board games back in the dark ages before Hasbro bought the rights.

by Christine, Baltimore, on Jul 29, 2008 06:09 PM, Report abuse Reply

Hasbro is making a foolish move.Scrabulous can only help the popularity of Scrabble. What are they thinking?

by Scrabfan, Salina, on Jul 29, 2008 06:08 PM, Report abuse Reply

Scrabble Beta is horrible. Bring back Scrabulous. These boys got it right, Hasbro should just buy the rights.

by Suburban Martyr, Atlanta, on Jul 29, 2008 05:59 PM, Report abuse Reply

I just tried to play and it has apparently been blocked by someone...

by Alice, Sarasota, FL, on Jul 29, 2008 05:56 PM, Report abuse Reply

Well I added the Scrabble Beta application on Facebook. Its been only an hour and it is already unavilable for maintenance.

by Giovanni, Rutland, VT, on Jul 29, 2008 05:48 PM, Report abuse Reply

well it's been blocked :)

by april, lafayette, in, on Jul 29, 2008 05:40 PM, Report abuse Reply

it's blocked now!

by marcia, tallmadge, oh, on Jul 29, 2008 05:31 PM, Report abuse Reply

I am in the middle of games with friends in the USA. I'm in Britain. We can still play on Facebook in UK. Scrabble is available but not to play with anyone in the USA. Thanks a milllion!!

by Simon Bell, London, on Jul 29, 2008 04:53 PM, Report abuse Reply

Agarwallas we are with you on this ,americans have a culture of sueing for everything in life and thats reflected by Hasbro ,though i dont use your application i felt the need to say that you are on the right side hence we support

by sharanu, Bangalore, on Jul 29, 2008 01:27 PM, Report abuse Reply