Q: What’s the policy argument for having copyrights in the first place?Ī: Th term of protection is what allows authors, composers and other creators to successfully exploit their works. Plainly, the people who created the game were trying to evoke the Scrabble mark. The term “Scrabulous” is obviously intended to evoke the name Scrabble. The law prevents third parties from making both literal use of a trademark as well as uses that are confusingly similar. Marks like Coca-Cola, Mercedes - those can continue indefinitely as long as it remains in use. Q: Butts passed away in 1993, which would extend the copyright in this case to the year 2063.Ī: Yes, but it’s really important to remember that the plaintiff is also asserting a trademark claim, and that lasts as long as you exploit it. Why isn’t it?Ī: A copyright claim lasts for the life of the author, plus 70 years. Q: Many people think that because Scrabble is 70 years old, it should be in the public domain. What follows is an abridged interview with Ballon, who also wrote the four-volume treatise, ‘E-Commerce & Internet Law.’ To answer our readers’ questions on Hasbro’s copyright and trademark case, we turned to Ian Ballon, an intellectual property and Internet attorney with Greenberg Traurig.
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