'Tetris'-like iPhone app to be pulled
A young software developer has decided to pull his iPhone game from Apple's App Store because it was too similar to the classic arcade game Tetris.
Noah Witherspoon, a college student in Atlanta, created a free game called Tris for Apple's handset platform. But Apple recently contacted Witherspoon to let him know that the Tetris Company, which licenses the eponymous video game, had notified it about copyright and trademark infringement claims against the app.
Witherspoon wrote on his blog that he has chosen not to take the matter to court and will pull the game on Wednesday. "I'm a college student, and not an affluent one, and I simply do not have the time, energy, or resources to fight this battle right now," he said.
He added, though, that he believes the Tetris Company has "little to no legitimate legal claim, and (is), presumably, relying on my being a small developer with insufficient resources to defend myself."
Apple has removed several applications from the App Store on its own for various reasons, including one called "I Am Rich," an application that did nothing but cost $1,000.
Copyright and trademark claims are a more complicated matter in the game world than elsewhere on the Web, something that came to light in the controversy over Scrabulous, an unauthorized clone of the classic board game Scrabble that rose to fame on Facebook's developer platform and was pulled after legal complaints.
The creators of Scrabulous, which was generating ad revenue, relaunched it with a redesigned game board and new points system under the name Wordscraper.
Likewise, Tris creator Witherspoon says he's not through yet. "I don't think this will be permanent; when I have the time and can find a good copyright lawyer, I'll be figuring out exactly what my position is and how I can make Tris available again," he wrote on his blog.
Caroline McCarthy, a CNET News staff writer, is a downtown Manhattanite happily addicted to social-media tools and restaurant blogs. Her pre-CNET resume includes interning at an IT security firm and brewing cappuccinos. E-mail Caroline. 
et more evidence that IP laws need to be revamped and brought in line with its original intent.
> Just because it plays like Tetris doesn't mean it violates copyright.
If it plays like Tetris (and I have the game -it basically is Tetris), then it most certainly does violate the Tetris copyright.
> That is like saying a fantasy book violates the copyright to Lord of the Rings.
If it uses the same characters and/or settings, it does in fact violate copyright. This is long established law.
> Tris is not a trademark violation of Tetris.
Yes it is. Sound-alikes with the intention of forming a connection to the original mark, are absolutely a violation of a trademark.
The only case the developer can try to make, and he might in fact have a good case, is that neither the copyright nor the trademark actually belong to the Tetris Company cited in this article. But to argue that, he would definitely need deep pockets.
(end sarcasm)
While the cited reason was a questionable infringement trademark, I'm sure that there were other factors weighing on the request to take down the application.
There are no other factors involved.
- by sanenazok August 27, 2008 8:50 AM PDT
- This student should have made something more creative than a port of a game that someone else came up with. C'mon is copying the best college students do now-a-days?
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