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[GekigangerV]

Original Post by Professor from MMCafe here

Update*please note it is actually a criminal lawsuit

Interesting news today. According to a report by the MSN Sankei, Square Enix's main office in Tokyo and related personnel were raided on August 5 by the Osaka district police due to a criminal lawsuit filed by SNK Playmore.

The claim alleges that SNK Playmore's intellectual properties were being infringed by Square Enix's publishing division in their popular arcade manga "High-score Girl". Police officials will be looking through confiscated evidence and will be conducting interrogations to the editor as well as the author, Rensuke Oshikiri.

"High-score Girl" is a love comedy manga that takes place in Japan during the 1990s and features many scenes with fighting games which was the big trend at the time. SNK Playmore claims that the manga has over 100 cutscenes featuring characters from their games including KOF and Samurai Shodown. The end pages of the books have (C) printed with SNKPlaymore's company name, making it look as though they were published under permission.

SNK Playmore realized the infringement when anime production for High-score Girl began in summer of 2013 and its production company contacted them for authorization on the use of their characters and music. The company filed suit this May.

Article
http://sankei.jp.msn.com/west/west_affairs/news/140806/waf14080602000002-n2.htm

Some Commentary by Professor

Now, Some personal notes about this queer incident.

1- Square Enix and SNKPlaymore hasn't been in a rocky relationship at all, so this may come as a surprise to many people. Keep in mind that Square Enix was one of the few companies that actually did collaborations with SNKP with their "Lord Of Vermilion" arcade card game, which had cameos from KOF characters. Square Enix is also the parent company of Taito that sells the TypeX arcade board and also runs the NESiCA arcade distribution system, which SNKP's titles currently run on.

2- This was clearly filed in criminal court, not civil court. Otherwise the police couldn't have gotten involved.

3- According to the article, SNKP realized in Summer of 2013, but they didn't file a suit until this May. That's a huge mysterious gap. Perhaps things will become more clear in the upcoming months.

4- As stated in the article, High-score Girl has been popular enough that an anime release is scheduled. What will happen to it after this suit this is something we'll need to wait and see. In an unrelated note, Capcom gave out free limited edition NESiCA cards featuring Zangief and the manga's heroine as a gift to loketest players of Ultra SF4 in Japan. Sample here

 

[Jimmyfenix]

I think SNKP is simply shooting themselves on their feet with this

Iseewhatyoudidthere professor.

 

[Off-Kilter]

That you, Muppet?

Moving on up I see.

 

[hydrophilic attack]

I guess that professor is an expert on Japanese business culture

Not sure what to think about this though. Seems like a big fuck-up by SE to not ask for permission.

 

[Tizoc]

If I were drinking a soda I would've spat it out from reading the thread title...

 

[PartTimeWarrior]

SNK vs Capcom is dead but SNK vs Square Enix is happening right in front of us

 

[Hayama Akito]

But High-Score Girl is AWESOME ;_;

 

[Sage00]

The idea that Taito will stop providing SNK arcade boards because they sued over a clear copyright infringement, and deny themselves all that money, is ridiculous.

These are massive companies, not neogaf posters.

 

[Hot Coldman]

you can feel the calm before the storm as the raid begins

 

[Samurai_Heart]

Did the anime have SNK franchises in it?

Edit: Oh in production, wording made it sound like it was already out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Score_Girl

 

[CO_Andy]

Gotta fund the next KOF somehow

 

[jabuseika]

When I read the headline I thought they were hit by the copyright police for plagiarizing their own characters for decades.

Spoiler

/s

 

[thesaucetastic]

Damn, but Hi Score Girl is so good!

 

[Silky]

you can feel the calm before the storm as the raid begins

Flawless

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

I've read Hi Score Girl. The main character is a video game fanatic that goes into detail on various systems and games (including snk stuff). But the games are shown because of the love for them, people don't read the manga to see those images and the manga could easily do without them.

I have as much contempt for squenix as the next guy, but the suit seems pretty sleazy to me.

 

[Rubius]

It's kinda like Scott Pilgrim using Nintendo stuff right? Except that they actually had permission from Nintendo.

Kinda weird that they wouldnt simply get a % or something.

Did Gone Home get permission from Capcom for the Street Fighter 2 inclusion or they didnt need to?

 

[TreIII]

The idea that Taito will stop providing SNK arcade boards because they sued over a clear copyright infringement, and deny themselves all that money, is ridiculous.

These are massive companies, not neogaf posters.

Pretty much.

If there really is a case to be had here, SE and SNKP will likely just settle it out of court, and move on.

 

[TheJollyCorner]

meanwhile, in the basement of S-E headquarters, Hiroyuki Ito is wondering what kind of mess his janitorial team will have to clean up later...

 

[Jomjom]

Don't think SNK really cares if they damage their reputation and relationships with companies in the gaming industry. They don't even really make games anymore. If S-E was a pachislot company, then they wouldn't have dared.

 

[Zee-Row]

The subject gives me the image of armed Cops busting down Square Enix's doors and Wada hiding under a desk shivering.

 

[Xpliskin]

Well there's clearly copyright infringement, but there are others ways to settle this.

I mean SE using characters without consent was a risky move.

 

[cosmicblizzard]

I didn't know offices could get raided over a copyright infringement.

 

[Silky]

Don't think SNK really cares if they damage their reputation and relationships with companies in the gaming industry. They don't even really make games anymore. If S-E was a pachislot company, then they wouldn't have dared.

Doesn't SE make money from Pachislot games as well?

 

[Brawly Likes to Brawl]

PUT DOWN THE HAIR GEL AND BELTS OR I WILL SHOOT

 

[Zweizer]

Hi-Score Girl is awesome, but that's odd for SE to not have asked permission from SNK.

 

[Nyoro SF]

Seriously? Well, I suppose using the (c) was out of line....

 

[BOTEC]

SNK will sue anyone over anything. Given what happened with Aruze in the past, I can't really blame them.

 

[jabuseika]

So who else they didn't ask permission from?

The manga is riddle with characters from many different games.

 

[Zonic]

Well now this just makes me want to check out Hi-Score Girl, especially seeing that it's suppose to get an anime adaptation.

 

[survivor]

I would have figured the referencing done in High Score Girl would be fair use and wouldn't need permission for it. Big fuck up by SE manga publishing side to not have cleared the permissions before publishing the manga.

 

[patrickthehedgehog]

Team SNKP! I hope filthy Squeenix has to pay it's dues!

 

[Parakeetman]

Original Post by Professor from MMCafe here



Some Commentary by Professor

This pisses me off considering I collect this particular series.

I didn't know offices could get raided over a copyright infringement.

The cops here need something to do considering how little they have to do most of the time.

 

[Jarate]

Come on Snk, daddy needs a new KOF

 

[petran79]

snk created geese howard after all

 

[BGMNTS]

Gotta love Square Enix

 

[cosmicblizzard]

I would have figured the referencing done in High Score Girl would be fair use and wouldn't need permission for it. Big fuck up by SE manga publishing side to not have cleared the permissions before publishing the manga.

Japanese fair use laws are really wonky. The existence of doujinshi and actually be able to profit from them kind of proves that.

 

[Chairhome]

Biggest news for me is that madman cafe is still open

 

[GrayFoxPL]

They are suing for fan service manga.

SNKP I know you are poorer then CliffyB but don't go that low.

 

[fader]

SE owns Taito? Holy crap SNK what are you doing...

 

[Deckard Cain]

Update:

Police did a through search of the building but found no traces of Final Fantasy XV or Kingdom Heats 3.

 

[Ushiwaka]

Personally, I think SNKP is simply shooting themselves on their feet with this.

Holy shit :lol

 

[striferser]

Oh man, i love that manga!
I wish it won't stop the publication...I need to see how it's end!

 

[GrayFoxPL]

Update:

Police did a through search of the building but found no traces of Final Fantasy XV or Kingdom Heats 3.

 

[jabuseika]

Update:

Police did a through search of the building but found no traces of Final Fantasy XV or Kingdom Heats 3.

That's cold.

 

[Edge_Maverick]

Update:

Police did a through search of the building but found no traces of Final Fantasy XV or Kingdom Heats 3.

 

[MagiusNecros]

That's cold.

Ice cold.

 

[sd28821]

hopefully the manga still gets made and not axed for this etc

 

[Shadow780]

Update:

Police did a through search of the building but found no traces of Final Fantasy XV or Kingdom Heats 3.

Also Nomura, but the police was greeted by Toriyama and a dozen roses.

 

[jbug617]

I think they have some sort of permission from Capcom because there was Hi Score Girl promotion with USF4 in Japan

 

[Smiles and Cries]

that manga looks amazing but a copyright nightmare lol