Rip Off Final Fantasy VII and Pay Up

Square Enix doesn’t mess around. After a music video from Korean pop star Ivy looked too much like Final Fantasy VII, Square Enix dragged the video’s maker Fantom Entertainment to court. The music vid’s director claimed that it was merely a “parody” and that he “wanted to contact Square Enix to get permission, but couldn’t find their contact info”. Seoul Central District Court judge Gu Hoe-geun ruled that Fantom “illegally used 80 percent of the storyline, setting, characters and their styles of dress and their demeanors from video game Final Fantasy VII“. Fantom was fined $US 10,900. The company’s director and the video’s director were both fined an additional $US 6,500 each. There is still a civil suit against the video’s creators as well. If Square Enix won’t even let people take snapshots of in-game demo kiosk footage, it certainly won’t let something like this slide.

Final Fantasy Court [Hollywood Reporter, Thanks Evening Aura!]