Posted Dec 11, 2007 at 10:42AM by Gino D. Listed in: PlayStation 3, PSP Tags: Square Enix, Korea, South Korea, YouTube
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Tifa - Advent Children - Image 1


They say that imitation is a form of flattery. But sometimes, imitation can unleash on you a Beat Rush + Somersault + Water Kick + Meteodrive combo (and very well into Final Heaven too).

Last March, Square Enix filed a law suit against Korean media company Fantom Entertainment Group for releasing a music video that infringed on copyright material. Exhibit A, if you please: Korean pop singer Ivy's music video for her song, "Temptation of Sonata". Check it out:



As ruled by the judge, this music video "illegally used 80% of the storyline, setting, characters and their styles of dress and their demeanors from the Japanese video game Final Fantasy 7." Well, not FF7 per se, but to be more specific, a scene from Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children.

The music video recreates the epic battle between Tifa and Loz from the movie. And it does it quite well too - we'll give it that. However, the fine line between imitation and outright plagiarism has been crossed.

With this ruling, the court fines Fantom with US$ 10,900, while Lee Han-woo (Fantom director) and Hong Jeong-ho (director of the music video) each get a US$ 6,500 penalty charge. To further deter future cases like this, Yasuhiko Hasegawa, General Counsel for Square Enix, comments:

This judgment 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 recognized in a public forum. Square Enix will continue to take decisive action against any infringements upon the company's intellectual property, recognizing that this property is one of our most crucial resources.




[Via The Hollywood Reporter] Permalink  |   Email this  |   Linking Blogs   |   Digg It!

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9 Comments


Sort by:
   by sentence - 2007-12-11
 » ...

WoaH... they didnt even try to hide it -.-" (she cant pull-off tiffa n-e wayz)

   by Silverback - 2007-12-11
 » Uh oh...

Oh, s#!t... Time to pull my Clint Eastwood video off of Youtube.

   by WarLord - 2007-12-11
 » Sigh

Now i gotta watch FF7: AC....for the 10th time.

   by NayusDante - 2007-12-11
 » ...

So they copied blatantly (cited it though) and only got charged


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   Re: Gino D. (QJ. NET Staff) - 2007-12-11
 » hmmm

I'm not entirely sure if the citation in the video was originally there or only appended by the person who posted it on YouTube. Maybe, maybe not. Who knows...

Regardless though...

Whether Fantom was only charged fines or not, it's still a major blow to their reputation. Especially since Square Enix holds a lot of clout and all. ;-)

Sigh. For what it's worth though, I still think the music video is quite impressive. Hehehe! ^_^
   by Mister Common Sense - 2007-12-11
 » funny

I don't remember the Korean music or the dancers interrupting the scene in the movie.

Give them a break, so what if it resembles a scene from the movie? At least it was well done.


   Re: Stealth! - 2007-12-11
 » MCS

Yes it was well done but thats not the point, I would love it more if they got permission from SE to do a video and im sure they would say yes, but they didn't and got the penalty.
Resembles a scene!! It was a carbon copy MCS seriously think.

^^Gino D. i agree, it was impressive and i like the song too.
   by Naroon Kasui - 2007-12-11
 » meh

Square Enix should be proud that people want to copy them... Companies always try to do something to milk money out of people. Squeenix is just money hungry, they already have billions from the Final Fantasy series alone, and they want more? Wow... >_>


   Re: Naroon Kasui - 2007-12-11
 » lol

Everyone knows its true. Everyone wants money. I still buy and play SE games but no one can argue that they still want lots of cash, more than they need anyway.


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