Overview
- The Tetris-style game titled 'Build the Wall' was pulled from the White House virtual arcade on Tuesday after The Tetris Company said it had no role in the title.
- The Tetris Company posted that it was not involved, said it believes in bringing people together, and warned that it takes copyright infringement very seriously.
- The arcade launched earlier this week with several retro-inspired games that critics described as dehumanizing because they portrayed migrants as objects to be blocked or collected.
- A White House official defended the arcade as a way to promote the administration’s message, while reporters and advocacy groups continue to press who built the site and whether public money or contractors were used.
- The Tetris Company’s long record of enforcing its intellectual property raises the prospect of formal takedown demands or legal action and increases pressure on other rights holders to respond to unlicensed imagery on the site.