Current:Home > Contact-usNew York Times is sending copyright takedown notices to Wordle clones-LoTradeCoin
New York Times is sending copyright takedown notices to Wordle clones
View Date:2024-12-24 00:28:57
The New York Times is sending copyright takedown notices to developers who have created games similar to its popular Wordle puzzle, with the newspaper saying it is doing so to "defend its intellectual property rights."
The New York Times' letters, also called Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notices, were earlier reported by the tech journalism site 404. According to its reporting, the notices maintain The New York Times' ownership of the game's mechanics and concepts, such as its 5X6 grid and display of green tiles for correct letter guesses.
The newspaper's copyright campaign comes two years after it bought Wordle from its creator, Josh Wardle, who created the word puzzle as a gift to his wife. Since then, Wordle, played by millions daily, has been included in the New York Times' game package, which it includes as part of its subscription or can be bought separately for $50 a year.
Some developers posted on social media that they received DMCA takedown notices this month for their Wordle-like games, with some describing the action as "sad" and "insanity." One developer, Australian linguistics lecturer Jayden Macklin-Cordes, noted in a social media thread that Wordle was open-source when it first started, meaning the underlying computer code was available to everyone.
"One of the coolest aspects of the phenomenon was the proliferation of spinoff versions in all different languages and with independent, innovative twists," wrote Macklin-Cordes, who developed an Australian version called AusErdle. He noted that he received a DMCA notice from the New York Times on March 7.
"Regretfully, this means the end of AusErdle," he added. "It's sad that @nytimes hates harmless fun."
Macklin-Cordes didn't immediately return a request for comment.
Another developer of a Wordle clone using the African language Yorùbá described the takedown letter as "insanity," noting that the New York Times doesn't offer Wordle in other languages.
In a statement to CBS MoneyWatch, the New York Times said it "has no issue with individuals creating similar word games that do not infringe The Times's 'Wordle' trademarks or copyrighted gameplay."
The newspaper said it "took action against a GitHub user and others who shared his code to defend its intellectual property rights in Wordle. The user created a 'Wordle clone' project that instructed others how to create a knockoff version of The Times's Wordle game featuring many of the same copyrighted elements."
It added, "As a result, hundreds of websites began popping up with knockoff 'Wordle' games that used The Times's 'Wordle' trademark and copyrighted gameplay without authorization or permission. GitHub provided the user with an opportunity to alter his code and remove references to Wordle, but he declined."
The New York Times didn't identify the developer, but 404 notes that a coder called Chase Wackerfuss had created a Wordle-like game called Reactle. More than 1,900 versions were created using his code.
In a message to CBS MoneyWatch, Wackerfuss said he took down the game after receiving the notice and has no plans to redevelop it. He also called the notice "disheartening" and pointed out that Reactle helped people learn software engineering or to create their own games.
"I extend my sympathy to all developers and fans of the diverse games using Reactle," he wrote. "The common thread was a shared intention to learn and have fun.
- In:
- The New York Times
Aimee Picchi is the associate managing editor for CBS MoneyWatch, where she covers business and personal finance. She previously worked at Bloomberg News and has written for national news outlets including USA Today and Consumer Reports.
TwitterveryGood! (96)
Related
- Watch a rescuer’s cat-like reflexes pluck a kitten from mid-air after a scary fall
- Kate Spade 24-Hour Flash Deal: Get This $360 Tote Bag for Just $99
- America’s No. 3 Coal State Sets Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets
- Ali Wong Addresses Weird Interest in Her Private Life Amid Bill Hader Relationship
- Asian sesame salad sold in Wegmans supermarkets recalled over egg allergy warning
- U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Block Exxon Climate Fraud Investigation
- Microinsurance Protects Poor Farmers Facing Increasing Risks from Climate Change
- Pickleball injuries could cost Americans up to $500 million this year, analysis finds
- How Alex Jones’ Infowars wound up in the hands of The Onion
- That ’70s Show Alum Danny Masterson Found Guilty of Rape
Ranking
- Kristin Cavallari's Ex Mark Estes Jokingly Proposed to This Love Island USA Star
- ARPA-E on Track to Boost U.S. Energy, Report Says. Trump Wants to Nix It.
- Judge says witness list in Trump documents case will not be sealed
- 17 Vacation Must-Haves Under $50 From UnSun Cosmetics, Sunnylife, Viski & More
- Bluesky has added 1 million users since the US election as people seek alternatives to X
- Get 5 Lipsticks for the Price 1: Clinique Black Honey, Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk, YSL, and More
- Fading Winters, Hotter Summers Make the Northeast America’s Fastest Warming Region
- American Climate Video: The Creek Flooded Nearly Every Spring, but This Time the Water Just Kept Rising
Recommendation
-
Wreck of Navy destroyer USS Edsall known as 'the dancing mouse' found 80 years after sinking
-
The Western Consumption Problem: We Can’t Just Blame China
-
An Unlikely Alliance of Farm and Environmental Groups Takes on Climate Change
-
Four men arrested in 2022 Texas smuggling deaths of 53 migrants
-
Brian Kelly asks question we're all wondering after Alabama whips LSU, but how to answer?
-
Kinder Morgan Cancels Fracked Liquids Pipeline Plan, and Pursues Another
-
Navajo Nation Approves First Tribal ‘Green Jobs’ Legislation
-
Trump Plan Would Open Huge Area of Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve to Drilling