Scrabulous, one of the most popular applications on the social networking site Facebook that allows users to play an online word game, may soon be no more.
The makers of Scrabble, the board game that inspired the online version, have asked Facebook to remove the option from its website, claiming copyright infringement.
Hasbro and Mattel -- the companies that co-own the rights to the original game, have jointly issued cease-and-desist notices to four parties involved in the development, hosting, and marketing of .
Hasbro Inc. owns the rights to Scrabble in Canada and the U.S., while Mattel Inc. is in charge of Scrabble rights for the rest of the world.
In a written statement released Wednesday, Hasbro said it was reviewing a number of options with the four parties and hoping to reach a resolution.
"If we cannot come to one quickly, we will be forced to close down the site and its associated distribution points,'' Hasbro said.
"Letters have been sent to Facebook in the United States regarding the Scrabulous application," a Mattel spokeswoman in Britain told Reuters news service.
"Mattel values its intellectual property and actively protects its brands and trademarks.
"As Mattel owns the rights to the Scrabble trademark outside the United States and Canada, we are currently reviewing our position regarding other countries."
One of dozens of applications available to Facebook users, Scrabulous has risen above the pack in terms of popularity, with more than 600,000 daily users as of Wednesday.
The online game was developed by Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla, two software developers based in India, who have said they created it when they couldn't find an online version of Scrabble they liked.
Fans of the game have begun to register their complaints on, where else, a Facebook user group touted as "The official Facebook group of Scrabulous.com."
The group has over 36,000 members.
"If Hasbro/Mattel do manage to get the game closed I would suggest not buying any more of their products," wrote someone listed as Mark Olden, from London.
Martha Denton, from New York City, called the move "categorically absurd" for the toy companies to take action.
"It's absolutely increased their sales -- I know I've gained such an addiction that I bought my family a board and a newer Scrabble dictionary," she posted on the site.
"We cant lose this feature! I'm only just learing to spell!!" writes Jolene Kitcheman of Portsmouth, appropriately misspelling two words in her comment.
Not surprisingly, a "Save Scrabulous" group has already been started, with more than 600 members.
Fans lodging protests have been receiving letters from Hasbro, urging them to switch to legal Scrabble sites.
"We are not surprised that fans have thoroughly enjoyed playing Scrabulous on Facebook.com,'' the letter says. "What consumers may not realize, however, is that Scrabulous is an illegally copied online version of the world's most popular word game.''
John Williams Jr., executive director of the National Scrabble Association, said the group was hopeful the companies could work out some sort of agreement. While most competitive Scrabble players don't play Scrabulous, he said the online game was a great way to introduce young people to the traditional board game.
"We're thrilled over anything that gets people playing more Scrabble,'' he said. "Our goal is to recruit them from the Internet and get them playing on a Scrabble board with a person sitting across from them.''
Facebook itself has so far not commented on the request to remove the application.
