It becomes fair use because the ip owner did not enforce copyrights before.
Re:NYT shutting down the Wordle archive
by dragonwriter on Sunday March 13, 2022 @08:49PM
(#30667335)
That's not how copyright, or specifically copyright fair use, works.
Trademarks can be lost by not enforcing rights. Wordle is a trademarked name. The game play is not under copyright. Only the art is under copyright and extract words in some order to some extent
Re:NYT shutting down the Wordle archive
by tedunangst on Sunday March 13, 2022 @10:20PM
(#30667881)
And lookie here, the owner is enforcing their rights.
It was a ripoff of the IP before the sale, and it was a ripoff of the IP after the sale, and the owner (whoever it is at whatever point) can send a cease and desist.