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Square Enix sued by SNKPlaymore, cops raided office

K

Kikujiro

Member
Never heard of High-score Girl, but since I'm a big fighting game fan it sounds awesome, really want to read it. Is there an official translation? I guess not.
 
pants

pants

Member
Baleoce said:
ibi5Cl2fjf86Mx.jpg
Click to expand...

gWRsNiM.gif
 
Tizoc

Tizoc

Member
ATXAlchemy said:
http://www.itmedia.co.jp/news/articles/1408/06/news130.html

Saw this on Hachima. They went and asked other gamecompanies if Squenix asked for permission to use their characters, and they did.

So apparently, they forgot to ask SNKPlaymore.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't this seem a little extreme in this case? I'm not familiar with Japanese Law, but that just seems like the kind of thing SNKP could discuss with S-E and get it resolved without all this >_>;
 
S

sibarraz

Banned
Tizoc said:
Wouldn't this seem a little extreme in this case? I'm not familiar with Japanese Law, but that just seems like the kind of thing SNKP could discuss with S-E and get it resolved without all this >_>;
Click to expand...

According to SNKP, they talked with square enix months ago and they gave no fucks.

I wonder if SNKP asked for something too big thatnSE rejected them
 
U

Uthred

Member
Datschge said:
Because SNKP is situated in Osaka and the Osaka police is doing the investigation.
Click to expand...

That seems rather inefficient and prone to creating jurisdictional issues, then again maybe "raid" just sounds a little dramatic and it was just an officer or two.
 
T

TheSlySoul

Member
Wait, cops can raid an office for intelligent property plagiarism? This is a new one for me. I thought it was a crime, but nothing that would require a raid. Now I learned something!
 
W

Why would you do that?

Member
TheSlySoul said:
Wait, cops can raid an office for intelligent property plagiarism? This is a new one for me. I thought it was a crime, but nothing that would require a raid. Now I learned something!
Click to expand...

It is because it was filed in a criminal court instead of a civil court, so the police became involved. I didn't really know copyright infringement could warrant that either, but yeah. I don't know too much about court systems.
 
B

baterism

Member
This news introduced me to Hi-Score Girl, and so far (chap 6), I really liked it.

I hope this lawsuit don't stop the series.
 
T

TheSlySoul

Member
Why would you do that? said:
It is because it was filed in a criminal court instead of a civil court, so the police became involved. I didn't really know copyright infringement could warrant that either, but yeah. I don't know too much about court systems.
Click to expand...

Ok, it makes sense now. I was thinking infringement could only be filed as a civil suit and not criminal. I learned something today at least. The more you know, huh?

Reading about it, it seems they gave SNK credit for drawing King of Fighters in the comic. I do not quite understand why they are doing this since SE does not claim to own the art.
 
S

SpaceDrake

Member
In seriousness, as pointed out, SNK has been getting credited ever since their stuff appeared in the manga, and virtually everyone else has been on-board with the manga since day one, to the point that Capcom actually hands out promotional cards with Akira (the female lead) and 'Gief on. Up until right now, everything has appeared to be completely on the level and nobody had any reason to suspect funny business.

I have my own personal suspicions about what's happening here, and if I'm right, then I don't think SNK is going to get away from this without egg on their faces. Square might end up a little egged, too, but I suspect SNK has goofed rather heavily, especially taking this straight to criminal court like they did.
 
A

Agent Gibbs

Member
you do realise that following this SE will announce Kingdom Hearts 3 and FFXV are delayed another year to 2025

The sad part is they probably will delay and then blame it on legal issues
 
C

Chev

Member
TheSlySoul said:
Ok, it makes sense now. I was thinking infringement could only be filed as a civil suit and not criminal. I learned something today at least. The more you know, huh?
Click to expand...
It's specific to japan - there it can be filed as both, but in many other countries it's only civil.
 
E

Entryhazard

Banned
ArjanN said:
Yeah, pretty much. "Stop advertising our games for free! No one must know they exist!"

I dunno, to me this just seems like the equivalent of a character drinking a Coca-Cola in a comic and then the Coca-Cola company suing. Seems counterproductive to me and kind of a dick move.
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This "free advertising" thing is becoming overused these days

Do you really think that this manga isn't popular in the first place because of the games featured?

Also the fact that they apparently faked a copyright permission is pretty damning
 
T

TheBaronOfNA

Banned
Entryhazard said:
This "free advertising" thing is becoming overused these days

Do you really think that this manga isn't popular in the first place because of the games featured?

Also the fact that they faked a copyright permission is pretty damning
Click to expand...

How are you sure about that?

Why they will fake a permission when every other copyright was asked before hand?
 
T

Tempy

don't ask me for codes
First found out about High-Score Girl after watching the PuPiPo anime and being genuinely impressed by the ending, and then trying to find out more about the author.

I'm thinking there's more going on than S-E "forgetting" to ask SNK for proper permission. Who knows, maybe SNK wanted an actual licensing deal and didn't like what they heard.

(Also, this is the publishing side of S-E. I doubt they share building with the gaming side and the cops be able to find FFXV/KH3).
 
Shpeshal Nick

Shpeshal Nick

aka Collingwood
duckroll said:
The nature of copyright is that you have to act on known infringements or you risk losing your rights. That's how the law works. So if you get the legality of it, you also get why it has to be acted on.
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Your first sentence is one part I didn't actually know.

Lose your rights? Really?
 
The Spoony Hou

The Spoony Hou

Member
I absolutely love SNK and I think tha manga sounds freaking awesome. SNK should be happy with the free advertising, this is a shame.
 
L

Loona

Member
The Spoony Hou said:
I absolutely love SNK and I think tha manga sounds freaking awesome. SNK should be happy with the free advertising, this is a shame.
Click to expand...

The "free advertising" logic to this is bullshit when it's applying to 20-year-old games that have been rereleased several times, and nostalgia is a big part of the manga's appeal.
 
The Spoony Hou

The Spoony Hou

Member
Loona said:
The "free advertising" logic to this is bullshit when it's applying to 20-year-old games that have been rereleased several times, and nostalgia is a big part of the manga's appeal.
Click to expand...

Still characters that are being used nowadays. I think the "too old" argument only is valid for completely dead franchises or dead companies.
 
B

baterism

Member
After reading until vol 2, I just found out that SNK was really huge back then. Their sprite arts are really something.

I guess they might sued SE for make them remember what they tried to forget.

And for "free advertising" argument.. yeah, I tend to side with copyright holder as they have right to determine whether they want to be advertised or not, but in this case... honestly I have little idea of what the hell SNK is before reading this manga.

Then I just remember having Metal Slug 3 installed on Steam.
 
T

Teeth

Member
Collingwood said:
Your first sentence is one part I didn't actually know.

Lose your rights? Really?
Click to expand...

Escalator, Yoyo, rollerblade, linoleum, aspirin...all brand names that lost their ability to prosecute because they were pushed so heavily and adopted as synonyms for the products in general for the greater populace.

Almost happened to Kleenex and Xerox too...but they managed to retain their names as non-generic.
 
Z

ZenTzen

Member
are there any updates on this, i know they recalled the volumes and stopped digital distribution, but is the manga and anime safe, i really dont want this to be axed and to continue

hope SE and SNK reach some sort of agreement and that their SNK stuff will still be used

seriously even capcom seems to have embraced this manga
 
N

Nohar

Member
Collingwood said:
Your first sentence is one part I didn't actually know.

Lose your rights? Really?
Click to expand...

I won't give you the details, but, yes, you kinda have the obligation to defend your IP, otherwise after some time elapses without you acting (and if you knew your IP was used without your agreement), you will lose your rights on that IP. That's also why C&D letters are sent to axe some fan projects.
 
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