Yesterday we reported that Rockstar Games won their appeal against the BBFC in rights to release Manhunt 2 in the UK. Now it appears that Square-Enix has also come on top in their most recent legal battle – videogame creators just cannot stay out of court can they?
In Square’s case, the firm had no choice but to face legal actions after it had materialised that 80% of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children had been plagiarized in a recent music video.
According to the judge, Fantom, a Korean entertainment company had "illegally used 80 per cent of the storyline, setting, characters and their style of dress" for use in a music video by recording artist, Ivy.
"Square Enix will continue to take decisive action against any infringements upon the company’s intellectual property, recognising that this property is one of our most crucial resources," says Yasuhiko Hasegawa, the general counsel of Square-Enix “This judgement by the Seoul Central District Court is stringent in comparison to other copyright infringement cases in South Korea, and we appreciate that the maliciousness of this infringement has been recognised in a public forum,"
This has left the Fantom Entertaiment company with fines of USD 10,900 along with additional fines of USD 6500 to Lee Han-woo, company director, and the music video director, Hong Jeong-ho.
To finish it off with a nice taste, Square-Enix made mention that their Fanal Fantasy series has sold well over 75 million copies throughout its 20 year history.