Back in January, Scrabble makers Mattel (NYSE: MAT) and Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) sent cease and desist notices to four parties involved with the production and distribution of Scrabulous, a popular Facebook application based on Scrabble.The company has since reportedly entered into negotiations with the creators of Scrabulous, aimed at working out some kind of licensing deal, but now it seems that Mattel may be deciding to do it without them.
"Scrabble by Mattel" has appeared on Facebook in Beta mode, although it is technically only available to players outside of North America, where Hasbro owns the rights.
According to the New York Times, the official version of Scrabble has received mixed reviews so far: "Facebook Scrabble takes a long time to load, does not always quickly update to show recent moves, and the words the game will accept do not reflect standard Scrabble dictionaries, or even the English language."
Given how popular and functional the Scrabulous app is, pairing up with its Calcutta-based creators seems like the best solution for Mattel and Hasbro -- by agreeing not to sue them for past copyright infringement, they could probably get them to run the game for a cut of the substantial advertising revenue it generates.
Tens of thousands of Scrabulous players threatened to boycott Mattel products if Scrabulous is shut down.
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