Before disabling any content in relation to this takedown notice, GitHub
- contacted the owners of some or all of the affected repositories to give them an opportunity to [make changes](https://docs.github.com/en/github/site-policy/dmca-takedown-policy#a-how-does-this-actually-work).
- provided information on how to [submit a DMCA Counter Notice](https://docs.github.com/en/articles/guide-to-submitting-a-dmca-counter-notice).

To learn about when and why GitHub may process some notices this way, please visit our [README](https://github.com/github/dmca/blob/master/README.md#anatomy-of-a-takedown-notice).

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Dear Sir or Madam:

 

I write to submit a revised DMCA Notice regarding an infringing repository (and hundreds of forked repositories) hosted by Github that instruct users how to infringe The New York Times Co.’s (“The Times”) copyright in its immensely popular Wordle game and create knock-off copies of the same.  Unfortunately, hundreds of individuals have followed these instructions and published infringing Wordle knock-off games that The Times has spent the past month removing, including off of Github’s websites.  See attached correspondence containing successful DMCA takedowns submitted to GitHub from this repository. 

 

I have read and understand GitHub's Guide to Filing a DMCA Notice.  I am outside intellectual property counsel for The New York Times Co. (“The Times”) and am authorized to submit this DMCA complaint on their behalf.

 

I write to report infringing content at: https://github.com/cwackerfuss/react-wordle; https://github.com/cwackerfuss/reactle; and https://github.com/cwackerfuss/reactle/network/members

 

The user has created a clone project of The Times’s popular and copyrighted Wordle game (see: https://www.nytimes.com/games/wordle/index.html).  In his repository, he gives step by step instructions on how to create a clone of The Times’s copyrighted “Wordle” game, and lists all of the infringing knockoffs that have been made using his code.  The Times has submitted DMCA takedowns for many of these projects and successfully had them removed, including from Github.  For example, the user lists a “[private]” made with his code, but The Times has successfully had this page altered so “Wordle” no longer appears on the website.  See attached correspondence with Github.  Additionally, The Times has submitted DMCA takedown requests for “[private]” and “[private],” both listed on this repository, and Github has taken action to ensure that these websites were removed or altered to remove infringing content.  See attached.

 

Regarding the copyright, The Times owns U.S. Copyright Reg. No. PA0002342355 in Wordle as an electronic file and computer file for a videogame.  See attached.  The Times’s Wordle copyright includes the unique elements of its immensely popular game, such as the 5x6 grid, green tiles to indicate correct guesses, yellow tiles to indicate the correct letter but the wrong place within the word, and the keyboard directly beneath the grid.  This gameplay is copied exactly in the repository, and the owner instructs others how to knock off the game and create an identical word game.  The owner of the repository previously called it “React Wordle,” and explicitly stated: “This is a clone project of the popular word guessing game we all know and love.”  He has now removed the references to Wordle in some, but not all, of the repository in an attempt to avoid having his repository shut down.  We have given the owner a chance to remove all references to Wordle and alter his code to not infringe The Times’s copyright, but he has doubled down on knocking off The Times’s copyrighted content.  When searching the repository, he proudly advertises the various knock-off “Wordle” websites that have been made using his code.  Once again, several of these websites were removed or altered as a result of DMCA takedown requests, including through Github.  There is no basis to maintain this repository, and the owner “cwackerfuss” is a bad actor that is willfully infringing The Times’s copyright and has been given opportunities to amend his code or make changes, but to date, he has refused.  There is no recourse but to remove the entire repository in order to stop the spread of willful copyright infringement.

 

Additionally, I have reviewed dozens of the forked repositories.  Based on the representative number of forks I have reviewed, I believe that all or most of the forks are infringing to the same extent as the parent repository.  Moreover, most of these forked repositories contain The Times’s “Wordle” trademark in the name of the game.  This is clearly bad faith, and cwackerfuss is intentionally proliferating the spread of trademark and copyright infringement in connection with these forked repositories.

 

On behalf of The Times, I hereby demand that this repository and the hundreds of forked repositories and projects be taken down immediately. 

 

I have a good faith belief that use of the copyrighted materials described above on the infringing web pages and repositories is not authorized by the copyright owner, or its agent, or the law.  I have taken fair use into consideration.  I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the information in this notification is accurate and that I am authorized to act on behalf of The Times for its exclusive copyright which has been infringed.

 

Sincerely,

[private]

/s/ [private]

 

 

[private]  
[private]  
p: [private] • f: [private] •  e: [private]  
