When the Supreme Court redefined copyright in 1991 with the Feist v. Rural decision (499 U.S. 340), the Court specifically excluded listings of facts, such as a phonebook (and presumably dictionaries), from the protectable class of works. Now, in order to ensure its marketshare, Scrabble-owner Hasbro has set out to enforce a claimed copyright in tournament and game dictionaries (word lists lacking definitions). Hasbro claims that when Merriam-Webster created and distributed its game dictionary, it violated Hasbros copyright. Hasbro is also demanding a “significant” annual fee to license the list. Read more about the history of the Scrabble dictionary and all the complications that have ensued. posted by - Matt Bycer
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 21:39:11 +0000
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