nanoUFONYTimes Files Copyright Takedown Against Hundreds of Wordle Clones
RightHandOfIkarosNew York Times really is hurting for money, huh?
I mean, in the USA you cannot copyright or trademark game mechanics, 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.
snooggumsSomebody 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.
I played it once, said “this game sucks, it’s so simple I could program a computer to play it”, and then I programmed a computer to play it to prove it.
Fifty bucks a year is not bad considering you get thirty years worth of crosswords, too.
Except I can get crosswords elsewhere. I have two different apps on my phone that provide the same enjoyment. Maybe not up to the quality that people like from NYT but they do the job for me.
Is thirty years really all they have digitized? Jesus, that’s weaksauce.