Vanderbilt students might lose a time-honored procrastination tool if Hasbro and Mattel prevail in a three-month-long battle of copyrights.

The conflict centers around Scrabulous, a virtual variation of the classic board game Scrabble. The game, created by Jayant and Rajat Agarwalla of India, has become a Facebook favorite and is one of the 10 most used applications on Facebook, according to The Associated Press.

At Vanderbilt, its popularity is no different.

“I like Scrabulous because it is distracting, but I still feel like I’m doing something productive,” said freshman Brittany Norman.

The game has the same guidelines as the board game Scrabble, which requires players to create words with a certain number of randomly selected letters. The online version allows users to play with friends, and due to the lack of a time limit, allows users to challenge their competitors over long periods of time.

The application has 600,000 users and continues to grow in popularity. In light of recent surge in users, the attempted removal of the game is not being met with much support.

“I really wouldn’t want Scrabulous to be removed,” Norman said. “I’ve had the application since first semester, and I enjoy using it.”

Norman is not alone in her sentiments, but according to Mattel and Hasbro, the companies with the rights to Scrabble, the issue is not with the application’s creation but rather with the lack of authority the Agarwalla brothers received to create the virtual version.

According to the AP, Hasbro urges consumers who contact them about Scrabulous to switch to legal Scrabble sites.

"We are not surprised that fans have thoroughly enjoyed playing Scrabulous on Facebook.com," the letter (from Hasbro) said. "What consumers may not realize, however, is that Scrabulous is an illegally copied online version of the world's most popular word game."

While online Scrabble sites are an alternative to Scrabulous, the accessibility of the game is one of the main reasons it is so popular.

“I like Scrabulous because it’s easy to access,” said freshman Angela Speranza. “It’s on Facebook, so all of my procrastination needs are in one place.”

The battle for copyrights is under negotiation, and the two parties hope to reach an agreement, according to the AP.

However, many Scrabulous fans are not taking the legal action of Hasbro and Mattel lightly.

Fans have started to create protest groups on Facebook, such as “Save Scrabulous” and “Please, God, I Have So Little: Don’t Take Scrabulous, Too” in order to show their support for the virtual game.

“I really hope that some sort of agreement is reached,” Speranza said. “Scrabulous is one of my favorite applications on Facebook.”

— The Associated Press contributed reporting to this article.
— Lakendra Scott can be reached at lakendra.j.scott@vanderbilt.edu