The New York Times is defending itself against Wordle imitators, claiming that many games based on the highly popular word-guessing game are violating its copyright.

Numerous imitations have surfaced following the surge of popularity for Wordle within the last three years. In 2022, the Times, who acquired the game, has begun issuing takedown notices to individuals associated with certain replicas.

The Times has submitted multiple DMCA takedown notices to game developers who created games inspired by Wordle. These notices cited infringement on the Times’ ownership of the Wordle name and its distinctive features, including the layout and color scheme of green, gray, and yellow tiles.

According to a statement from a representative of the New York Times Co., the company has no problem with individuals making comparable word games as long as they do not violate the Wordle trademarks or copyrighted gameplay. However, the company did take measures against a user on GitHub who made a project called “Wordle clone” and shared instructions on how to replicate Wordle, as well as others who shared their code.

A representative stated that numerous websites started appearing, featuring imitation versions of the ‘Wordle’ game, unlawfully using both The Times’ trademark and copyrighted gameplay without consent or approval.

The spokesperson stated that GitHub offered the user the chance to modify the code and eliminate mentions of Wordle, but the user declined.

Tech publication 404 was the first to report about The Times’ DMCA takedown notifications last week. Several developers who were affected have expressed their discontent on social media. They mention that their games, which include Wordle-like options in different languages and various guessing games, are at risk of being removed.

Vignesh Venkat, a California-based software engineer, said he built his variant of Wordle several years ago, when the game first gained popularity. His game, Hardle, was initially created for a friend’s gender reveal event — where guests encouraged him to put it online for public consumption.

Venkat mentioned that he had not thought about his game for a while, but occasionally plays it nowadays when his friends suggest it.

“I am unsure of the ultimate benefit they will derive from this,” he remarked. “Considering (the Times) likely has millions of individuals engaging in their game, while there may only be hundreds or thousands playing mine.”

Robert Brauneis, a professor of intellectual property law at George Washington University’s Law School, added that a German-language Wordle spinoff that he and his wife used to play, which was once found at “wordle.at,” appeared to have been removed in the last week or two — suggesting that it may have also received a takedown notice.

On Monday, a statement on the website wordle.at, now called “Gridgames,” states that the game was taken down at their own request following a “complaint regarding US trademark law.”

The representative for The Times informed The Associated Press on Monday that they initially reached out to GitHub on January 2 regarding the problem of infringement. They also mentioned that numerous individuals have been notified through GitHub since then.

According to a spokesperson from GritHub, the platform carefully evaluates all DMCA takedown requests and allows users who may be impacted to make any necessary modifications before taking action on the requests.

The use of DMCA notices enables copyright holders to remove content that violates their intellectual property. Although affected users can contest the removal of their published content, this could potentially lead to expensive legal proceedings. Therefore, many choose not to challenge takedowns.

However, Brauneis expressed his belief that the Times’ claims of Wordle copyright violation may not have strong standing for a few reasons. According to him, copyright does not extend to the rules of a game, including its layout.

According to intellectual property law expert Brauneis, the implementation of game rules involving correctly guessing a word using a six by five grid is not subject to copyright as it is determined by the rules of the game.

Let’s consider a game’s color palette, which has been subject to copyright by certain media companies. However, according to Brauneis, the U.S. Copyright Office only includes the code and text instructions for Wordle, but not the colors or graphics.

According to Brauneis, using copyrighted code does not offer protection against anyone who could create their own code to make a similar game. While it is possible that a filing to extend Wordle’s copyright is in the works, the lack of color or graphics in the current registration may make potential legal actions more questionable.

Brauneis stated that Wordle’s name may be protected under trademark law, but should not be included in a DMCA notice since copyright and trademark laws are distinct.

In 2021, software engineer Josh Wardle developed a daily puzzle game and released it to the public. In January of the following year, he sold the game, known as Wordle, to the Times for a reported seven-figure sum.

The game gained a lot of attention and became a viral hit that led to the creation of similar games such as “Heardle,” a musical version of Wordle where players attempt to guess the title of a song after listening to it six times, and “Queerdle,” which includes words related to the LGBTQ+ community.

On Friday, the Times will be commemorating the 1,000th Wordle puzzle with a nationwide celebration, drawing inspiration from previous Wordle solutions.

Source: wral.com