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Square Enix Files Counterclaim Against SNK Playmore Over Hi Score Girl Manga
posted on by Egan Loo
On Wednesday, Square Enix filed a request for a confirmatory judgment of non-infringement against SNK Playmore, over the criminal case on alleged copyright violations in Rensuke Oshikiri's Hi Score Girl manga. Square Enix is requesting the Osaka District Court to confirm that the manga does not violate SNK Playmore's copyrights.
SNK Playmore had filed a criminal complaint, asserting that the manga features over 100 instances of characters from The King of Fighters, Samurai Spirits (Samurai Shodown), and other fighting games owned by SNK. As a result, police raided Square Enix's headquarters on August 5.
Later in August, the editor-in-chief of Square Enix's Monthly Big Gangan announced that the magazine will temporarily halt serialization of the manga, in light of the alleged copyright violations. Square Enix also issued a voluntary recall on all of the manga's print volumes and halted the sale of the manga's digital release, as well as sales of the manga's official fanbook in print.
Square Enix emphasized that it has cooperated fully with the police's search and investigation, and will continue to do so.
CAPCOM, Bandai Namco Games, and Sega said that they gave formal consent for the manga to use their games' characters. However, Sega representative added that the company gave permission only after one of its characters had already appeared in the manga.
The story of the "90s arcade romantic comedy" manga begins in 1991, during the heyday of the 2D fighting game boom. Sixth-grader Haruo spends practically his entire day at an arcade in the seedy part of town, oblivious to the world around him. However, one day at his usual arcade, he encounters Akira, his female classmate with good grades and money. She may look out of place at the arcade, but she is actually a top-class gamer. Akira completely outmatches Haruo in one Street Fighter II round after another, and their relationship develops from this unlikely encounter.
Oshikiri launched the manga in Square Enix's Big Gangan magazine in 2010, and Square Enix published the fifth compiled book volume of the manga in December.
Source: Game Watch
