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10 October 2014Copyright

Square Enix hits back in manga copyright row

Japanese video game developer Square Enix, the creator of the Final Fantasy series, has brought a lawsuit against a rival company that had accused it of using copyright protected characters without permission.

In a lawsuit filed at the Osaka District Court, Square Enix is seeking a declaratory judgment that it does not infringe the copyright of characters produced by SNK Playmore Corporation, another Japanese video game company.

The dispute started in May this year, when SNK accused Square Enix and its publication division of infringing its copyright through the High Score Girl manga comic strip.

According to SNK, Square Enix has been using the likenesses of characters from its fighting games The King of Fighters and Samurai Shodown [(sic] in High Score Girl, which is set in the early 1990s.

Following the accusation, a criminal complaint, rather than a lawsuit, was filed at the Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters and the Sonezaki Police Station searched the Square Enix headquarters.

In a statement published on Wednesday (October 8), Square Enix said it has cooperated with police but now wants to seek to prove its innocence.

“Getting accused of the criminal complaint, the company has decided to seek a declaratory judgment that the company does not infringe the defendant’s copyright,” it said.

“The company has been cooperating fully with police investigations since the domiciliary search, and will continuously maintain the cooperative stance with good faith.”

Founded in Osaka in 2001, SNK Playmore produces games for arcades, mobiles and PCs.

Square Enix is best known for its Final Fantasy series of games, which has since spawned into films and merchandise.

Although it is most famed for its role play games, Square Enix also publishes various manga publications, a popular Japanese style of comic.

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