No Fees to Hasbro in ‘Game of Life’ Copyright Win, 1st Cir. Says

Hasbro Inc. failed to convince the First Circuit to reverse a decision denying it attorneys’ fees after it stopped the heirs of the designer of “The Game of Life” from reclaiming a copyright.

The law applicable to the copyright claim by heirs of game designer Bill Markham “was not so black-and-white that the district court” unjustifiably found Markham’s argument reasonable, the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit said Thursday. Markham Concepts Inc. had argued against a court-designed test to determine whether the game was a “work for hire” that he couldn’t reclaim with termination rights.

Termination rights conditionally ...