Forum - View topicNEWS: Police Search Square Enix Due to Manga Allegedly Violating SNK's Copyrights
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Kougeru
 Posts: 5526 |
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He/she really needs to expand on the character designs. Looks pretty identical to his/her work in Pupipo.
I wonder, would a manga like this fall onto "parody" laws in the US? Does Japan have such a law? (I'm guessing not?) |
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CrownKlown
 Posts: 1762 |
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I agree this should fall into some parody rule, I mean anime all the time use major franchises with only superficial masking like Zony, Samy, WcDonalds. And besides it honestly free advertising for a company that probably needs it.
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gloverrandal
Posts: 406 Location: Oita |
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So I take it we're not going to get that anime adaption then. I'm bummed because it sounded like a fun series.
I'm not a law expert but I have a feeling people grossly misuse what parody law actually is a lot of the time when it comes to copyright infringement, especially on the internet when people get upset YouTube takes down some video they made. Family Guy using Optimus Prime for a short cutaway might be parody, but if your entire manga is about people playing copyrighted fighting games continuously and being the central focus, then it's probably passed parody territory. |
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configspace
Posts: 3717 |
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You mean fair-use which also covers parody, or making art with commercial images. I'd say yes. It doesn't revolve around using the characters directly, such as making a manga or anime starring the characters, but using them in a meta- like way, much like how a game review or gameplay video about the game would. Fair-use states that anything that is transformative instead of derivative is ok. Typical doujinshi "parodies" would not be covered until fair use. On the other hand an original doujinshi story about original characters who watches a commercial anime and comments on characters in that anime would be covered. The reason why Youtube et. al. won't consider fair-use is because fair-use is a legal decision and they'll take the presumption of infringement and take down any reported item to avoid liability.
No they don't have anything like fair-use. Last edited by configspace on Wed Aug 06, 2014 12:55 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Ryujin99
 Posts: 185 |
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From the sounds of it, this, unfortunately, does qualify under parody laws either in Japan or the US. I am also under the impression, by the way, that Japan's parody laws are more lenient than they are in the US due to the (seemingly) healthy doujinshi industry.
I would guess that the author probably needed/wanted to include a "Fighting Game A" at some point in the manga, but instead of making something up (the smart thing), copied an existing work to make their own work easier (understandable, but not a wise decision). Now if, hypothetically, the series included a game called something like "Queen of Fighters" which an obvious play off of "King of Fighters," but changes a few things to poke fun at or critique the original work, then it would be more likely to fall under parody law. At least, that's how I understand it. *Of course, this is all speculation on my part, so take it with a large grain of salt. |
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OH&S
 Posts: 306 Location: Sydney, Australia |
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It wasnt really copying it in that sense. It outright uses them as part of the story. The story is about the kids on the cover playing retro (to us) games which are current to them in the year they are living in. They manga also serves as a look into video game history.
Sometimes the world of adults can suck. Its a really good manga. |
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FenixFiesta
Posts: 2581 |
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I did a quick google gloss over, SE apparently has the rights to publish Capcom in manga form all they want, of the images I did catch with regards to Copyright it was clear that they were playing with Terry Bogart with the cabinet labeled Neo Geo without some sort of faux name (I will assume there are many other instances with different SNK characters).
This is a strange case as the final manga version could have gotten away with post edits and double down on the license they do own (Capcom based characters) but instead... they now have this very real legal issue that will cost even more money than if they had simply negotiated earlier in the chain. |
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Tomibiki
 Posts: 834 |
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I was hoping SE didn't straight rip SNK product and print like they did with Capcom's IPs, there's not much they can do if that's the case.
On the bright side, more funding for KOFXIV! |
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Ali07
 Posts: 3333 Location: Victoria, Australia |
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Well, I assume this leaves the anime up in the air now? While I've not read any of the manga, I was looking forward to the anime adaption of it.
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mangamuscle
Posts: 2658 Location: Mexico |
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Even thought the mangaka is obviously an snk fanboy and on purpose included neogeo intellectual property in his manga, it is the editor's fault for not contacting his company legal department and urging the mangaka to use safer tactics (he could have gender switched the characters or used non distinctive clothes) or at least intellectual property they did own. If I remember correctly the Genshiken anime has some distincitve neogeo images, so this could have worked if they had negotiated it when the manga was in the planning phase.
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Juno016
 Posts: 2381 |
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Technically, they're more strict in written law about what isn't covered. However, the doujinshi scene is and has been a part of the unwritten history of the entire industry for such a long time, it's very rare for doujinshi artists to actually get in trouble for their works. There are instances where publishers have gone after doujinshi artists, but those are often very limited to instances where people could mistake the doujinshi for an official work (due to where it is sold or how close it looks to the original source) or where the doujinshi itself causes controversy. The general history behind this weird loophole exists mostly because the law never adjusted to the manga/anime industry, so the industry simply decided not to pursue legal action unless deemed absolutely necessary. |
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 9902 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
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The manga has been cooperating with various game developers from the beginning. Remember, Square is a game company too.
As you can see, there are six lines of "© [YEAR] SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION All rights reserved." on the page, as well as including 株式会社SNKプレイモア in "Special Thanks." |
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ScruffyKiwi
 Posts: 673 Location: New Zealand |
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Japan's copyright laws has no provisions for parody AT ALL! The only reason doujinshi exists is that right-holders choose not to act, mainly because a lot of manga artists got their start in doujinshi. |
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lizardking461
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... amazed that no-one seems particularly interested in the fact that what are effectively police raids were carried out due to a possible case of copyright infringement... not sure where you people are from but that's not common practice in my parts...
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Daemonblue
 Posts: 701 |
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People aren't shocked because it has become more and more common after the MU raid. If a lot of countries sign onto the TPP with the provisions the US and Japan want on it you can expect it to happen even more. |
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