4 ms·
Our game in the app store could not include scrabble in the keywords because its copyrighted
by rstupek 6y ago
Our game in the app store could not include scrabble in the keywords because its copyrighted
- JoeAltmaier 6y agoBut you're not publishing it! Copyright doesn't apply. That's what galled me.
- dragonwriter 6y ago(1) Copyright applies even if you aren't publishing; it's called copyright and not publishright for a reason. (2) Providing an app on an app store is publishing, anyway. (3) The issue here was almost certainly trademark, not copyright.
- JoeAltmaier 6y agoAgain, the word doesn't appear to any user, nor is it in the app nor transmitted to the user. It appears in a database, one time. Probably was already there, because the Scrabble app was already there! The app in the app store is irrelevant. The trademark is irrelevant (not marking this product, not infringing). Does that hold water?
- hansvm 6y agoMy layman's understanding of trademarks is that the salient detail is whether your use of the trademark would likely cause confusion about the source of the material. The question then is if your app showing up for search results (or whatever other side effects might happen from your use of the trademark) about scrabble would be likely to convince people that the app _might be_ officially endorsed. I believe current US case law is trending toward keyword stuffing not generally being a trademark violation, even when explicitly targeting a trademarked competitor, but people are getting dragged to court over it from time to time, so that might be more than you'd like to take on.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- dragonwriter 6y ago> Our game in the app store could not include scrabble in the keywords because its copyrighted More likely, because it is a trademark.
- rstupek 6y agoLikely, but the error message indicated copyright. It seems like fair use to me but certainly not worth it to litigate.