Forum - View topicNEWS: Square Enix Files Counterclaim Against SNK Playmore Over Hi Score Girl Manga
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ShadowAssailantX
Posts: 17 |
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Seeing this made me cringe. This is not a criminal case. Even though Japan's legal system differs from ours in some respects, the basic structure is the same. This is clearly in the realm of civil law.
Corporate law, and copyright law in particular, are cornerstones of civil law, which this entire case falls under. The article should read SNK filed a civil complaint to get the ball rolling. |
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Egan Loo
Posts: 1370 |
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SNK Playmore specifically filed a criminal complaint, which resulted in a police raid of Square Enix's headquarters. Indeed, Square Enix makes a point of this in its filing, and said this should be resolved in a civil court, without the criminal system getting involved as SNK Playmore had done. |
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configspace
Posts: 3717 |
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In the US it's elevated to criminal status in practice only by selling whole copies or fakes. But in Japan, I'm pretty sure mere simple willful copyright infringement is treated as a criminal case, de facto if not de jure, hence the police agreeing to a raid in the first place and all the other stories of individuals being arrested. One other difference is that they also don't have any concept of fair use. If it's supposed to be civil, then my guess is that it'll rest on accidental infringement (i.e. a misunderstanding)
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ShadowAssailantX
Posts: 17 |
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I don't understand how this could be elevated to criminal with just one accusation of copyright infringement. Sure we have Corporate crimes here in the US, but they're reserved for gross misconduct and big-money white collar crimes. It generally takes a something huge to break through that corporate shield and stick liability on individuals. How were they able to arrest individuals in this case (I was unaware anyone was actually arrested), without first showing that the infringement was indeed willful as you're saying was the accusation from SNK?
In the US, although criminal complaints generally are drawn up by state prosecutors, an individual may file a criminal complaint against an alleged perpetrator of a crime. When this happens, they aren't taken straight to jail, but are issued a summons and come to court to discuss the allegations. In what world (japan, apparently) are the police kicking down doors, seizing property, and making arrests based on the information that we've heard? |
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mgosdin
 Posts: 1302 Location: Kissimmee, Florida, USA |
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OK, so it's Lawyer UP & Gloves Off in court for Square Enix and SNK.
That's something of an improvement I guess. Hopefully, if this is one of those "misunderstanding" issues where Square thought they had permission, then the Judge can get the two companies' lawyers to sit down and calmly sort the mess out. With apologies to the late Flip Wilson, how do you say "Here come da' Judge!" in Japanese? Mark Gosdin |
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mdo7
 Posts: 6735 Location: Katy, Texas, USA |
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Oh boy, this is going to be interesting to watch. Also I agreed that this shouldn't be a criminal case but more of a civil lawsuit, but as some people pointed out in Japan, copyright infringement is a criminal case rather then a civil issue.
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revolutionotaku
Posts: 908 |
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I have all 5 volumes sitting on my bookshelf right now. |
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Usagi-kun
 Posts: 877 Location: Nashville, TN |
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So I haven't been following this case very much, but I read this article and something did stand out.
And it is simply :
I laughed for a few minutes picturing this. Because I have worked in a corporate office, and that would be one hell of a Friday. |
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Team Rocket Elite
Posts: 36 |
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I wonder if this really means Square Enix never got permission to use the SNK characters or at least can't prove it. I'm not a lawyer, let alone one experienced in Japanese law. However, it seems to me that Square Enix is currently arguing that their use of the characters doesn't infringe on SNK's copyright regardless of whether they had permission. Considering Square Enix has valuable characters that they would prefer people got their permission when using, I'm not even sure if they want to win like this. It seems like it would undermine their own ability to go after people using their characters without permission. Maybe in Japanese law the precedence doesn't matter at all? If Square Enix really did have decisive evidence showing they got permission from SNK, I'm not sure why they don't pursue that route first.
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shiranehito
 Posts: 793 |
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I really lost it when I read about the police raided the company. I was imagining a rather peaceful publishing company and suddenly police barge in, shouting "Don't move! We are the police! You guys, ALL OF YOU are under arrest!"
Maybe that's too overly dramatic but that's how I imagined it. |
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simona.com
 Posts: 339 Location: Tokyo |
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Since we're in Japan I think it went more like: *knock knock* "Excuse me, it's the Police. May we come in? We are very sorry to bother you, but we have to perform a search of the premises. Do you mind if I move this action figure about half an inch to the left?" etc. (^^) |
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