Square Enix lawyers on guard against Final Fantasy replica swords

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Feb 12th 2008 at 6:30PM }

As we discovered during our trip to Japan's Square Enix store last year, the many worlds of Final Fantasy are pockmarked by some surprisingly deep merchandise mines. No matter what the item -- t-shirts, mugs, jewelery, clothing, action figures or spoons -- chances are a tenuous link can be established between it and your favorite spiky-haired moper. Replicas of the many extravagant and frequently weapons are fine too, just as long as they're approved by Square Enix.

The company today announced a federal lawsuit filed in the Central District of California against "alleged infringers of Square Enix's intellectual property." Specifically, said infringers include "at least" four wholesalers of unlicensed sword replicas based on four video games and a CG movie (likely Advent Children) within the Final Fantasy franchise. "While Square Enix appreciates the enthusiasm of its fans, and values its relationship with
them," said Square Enix General Counsel Yasuhiko Hasegawa, "it is also obligated to protect its intellectual property rights or risk weakening or losing the very rights that enable the company to continue to provide its fans with an exciting entertainment experience."

The lawsuit has its swordid (OOF!) origins in the recent seizure of a crate full of "counterfeit" replica blades by the United States Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Patrol. Following an investigation, Square Enix located the primary wholesalers and retailers of these "unauthorized products in the United States." We hope this turn of events will serve as a lesson to all of you looking to sell real things based on fake things.

Tags: Advent-Children, AdventChildren, Crisis-Core, Final-Fantasy, FinalFantasy, Lawsuit, Square-Enix, SquareEnix

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Curtis the Claw Game Master @ Feb 12th 2008 6:38PM

There is a Chinese store in my local mall that has these replicas. They have the gunblade from FFVIII, 2 of the swords from FFVII, a keyblade from Kingdom Hearts, and tons of other things from other games. Once I was going to buy one, then I didn't.

captain underpants and the bringdown gang @ Feb 12th 2008 9:18PM

best fucking story ever written.

markhill66 @ Feb 12th 2008 9:22PM

I didn't want you to just look at my link, it's the same signature I use on every post. You are smart.

-Mark
http://www.threevue.com

Curtis the Claw Game Master @ Feb 12th 2008 10:05PM

Haha I love how you posted a reply from a comment from another article. That is a win right there.

Sora267 @ Feb 12th 2008 6:47PM

Oh Joystiq, you were so punny with that "swordid" joke.

Also, mind telling me where I can get one of 'em Final Fantasy spoons?

Fyst @ Feb 12th 2008 7:32PM

As soon as I saw that devastating pun I knew this post must be the work of Ludwig Kietzmann.

I can almost see him grinning while typing it.

B1gC72 - PSN: KillaKornbread @ Feb 12th 2008 8:02PM

lol as soon as you said something about a pun (didnt read the article at first) i had to scroll up to the top and see if it was Ludwig and of course it was lol. he is seriously on a roll lately, i think he is taking performance enhancing drugs or something.....do they have those for journalist?.....

Joshua @ Feb 13th 2008 11:58AM

If they do, I'm pretty sure he's having them fed intravenously.

Dustin @ Feb 12th 2008 6:50PM

Yeah, there are some pretty bad buster sword replicas of Cloud's from FFVII. A lot of reviews I've read of one of them said that it felt like the hander was going to snap off of the blade at any moment. And I've seen a few gunblade replicas... pretty slick looking, but if I'm going to drop that kind of cash on a fake (non full-tang) sword, I want it to be officially liscensed, dammit! ^.^

WorMzy @ Feb 12th 2008 6:56PM

So, basically, they've given up on the whole "make good games to make money" scheme, and moved onto the "sue anybody and everybody they can" scheme. World domination can't be far away.

Mighty Shockwave @ Feb 12th 2008 9:35PM

They'll have to beat Bungie first!

WorMzy @ Feb 12th 2008 9:40PM

...You're kidding, right? =/

Anticrawl @ Feb 12th 2008 6:57PM

So Square Enix is made these guys are taking potential profits away from their "cheap crap with huge profit margins" division? I can appreciate that cause if I could get away with abusing my fans for quick cash and pure profit I wouldn't want anyone else in on the sweet deal without paying me a fee.

Anticrawl @ Feb 12th 2008 6:58PM

mad* not made

NoHitHair @ Feb 13th 2008 2:32AM

I'm curious where the Square Enix draws the line between companies selling professionally crafted mass printed replicas and otaku-designed abominations seen at conventions. Would they sue a fan if they were to sell a homemade Gunblade to a friend? If they're willing to target poorly crafted and clearly unorganized merchandisers, I could see an RIAA-esque theme emerging here.

If Square Enix truly cared about their "intellectual property" and the potential revenue it could generate, then perhaps they would've spent more time working on related merchandise and less time on suing ridiculous imitators.

Anticrawl @ Feb 13th 2008 3:23AM

You have a point but stepping out of character for a moment I'll speak logically.

They probably could care less about small isolated events, especially between fans devoted enough to spend their personally time and money to recreate something for their personal use, including friends, family whatever.

Their problem is the people creating these fantasy unlicensed swords being advertised (and the internet is a powerful advertisement tool, especially in the gaming industry) that could potentially be of poor quality or aren't up to their standards and possibly hurting their image which could lead to financial losses in the long run because it is obviously clear an average consumer doesn't know or even care if a product is official, sanctioned or licensed.

So in the end it is just them protecting their image as a respected developer/publisher and not the petty change they may miss out on from these sword replicas there isn't much of a market for. I'm also sure the know the likelihood of a few bad swords being advertised/sold with their IP attached to it would result in any financial repercussions but they certainly don't want to take any risks, and above all they are asserting their position aggressively in an attempt to show their confidence and keep potentially crummy unlicensed things from being made and sold publicly. It actually seems like a very smart and cautious move for such a big company, but it is great to know even such a big company isn't too arrogant to believe they could be humbled by trivial things such as this.

But they better be cautious, considering Square Enix might as well drop the Square with the dream team leaving to create Mistwalker. The only thing they have left to show for is the great Dragon Quest series and an out-dated template that is growing weary and sore from the violent and frequent milking.

george @ Feb 12th 2008 6:58PM

i thought this headline was a joke.

Dear square, chill the f^%ck out.

thanks!

...and I remember when they used to make video games.

Anticrawl @ Feb 12th 2008 7:01PM

I remember when they still had all the talented individuals working there before they shouted "fuck this" and ran out of the door as soon as the chain was released from their foot when they stated they had to piss. Yep, anyone of value that was at Square (including the composers) have moved along to Mistwalker leaving Square to survive only on the Final Fantasy name and an outdated templete for them to design games around.

Naota @ Feb 12th 2008 7:02PM

What ever happened to FFXIII?

Jeff @ Feb 12th 2008 10:56PM

Oh they were just figuring out the next piece of low quality merchandise that could go with it.

colin @ Feb 12th 2008 7:13PM

"your favorite spiky-haired moper"
LOL

NeoGohan @ Feb 12th 2008 7:50PM

Wait, so you can't sell things that you make? What if an artist drew some FF art and sold that? That doesn't make any f**king sense. Square Enix is being a bully.

Dahk @ Feb 12th 2008 8:05PM

No, it just has to be licensed, which makes sense for ANY business. It's just trying to be a little more protective of its IPs.

Every company has to make efforts to stop its IPs from being replicated. So stop hating on Square Enix just because they SAID they were "on guard". Jeez. I think this is more of a warning shot anyway.

WedgeTalon @ Feb 12th 2008 8:10PM

It's called copyright. It means that when Person A creates an original work, Person B, despite being indubitably very talented, can not create replications or derivative work without the original creator's permission. This is to ensure the original creator has sufficient opportunity to get exclusive profit from their creation before it returns to the public domain to benefit the general populace.

BigD145 @ Feb 12th 2008 9:08PM

You CAN create your own replicas. You can NOT make money off of it or try to claim it as your own work.

Dio @ Feb 13th 2008 12:09AM

"You CAN create your own replicas. You can NOT make money off of it or try to claim it as your own work."

Uh oh, then I guess commissioners aren't allowed to be paid for their time creating for other cosplayers D: So what, is Squeenix going to sue a big part of their fanbase or are they going to buckle down and produce quality replicas that are 1:1 scale?

Hell, let's just have them screw over all cosplayers since people DO sell costumes online.

Kendall B @ Feb 12th 2008 8:50PM

I wonder if someone has ever robbed a liquor store with a buster sword knockoff?

FOXHOUND @ Feb 13th 2008 7:47AM

Don't give me ideas... ¬_¬

Channel 6 News> "What provoked you to rob the liquor store of over $5,000 in alcohol?"

FOXHOUND, drinking 'Special Reserve> "I'm trying to power level up! Yay for videogames!" -cue FF victory theme-

Jack Thompson> "Jackpot." >:d -cue PRICE IS RIGHT failure theme-

tcc3 @ Feb 12th 2008 9:01PM

Shouldn't that headline read "en guard?"

Sam @ Feb 13th 2008 5:30PM

Oh thats good, thats very, very, good.

Also, what gives with them crying about replica's? When square enix start making officially liscenced full sized replica's then i'll sell my soul to get one...until then, i'll have to keep buying these cheap knockoffs because thats all there is.

ThornedVenom @ Feb 13th 2008 12:26AM

It'd be spelled "en garde" if you were attempting to insert French terminology.

tcc3 @ Feb 13th 2008 6:40AM

Yeah, you're right. I was goin for the pun, but I knew that looked wrong.

Ludwig Kietzmann @ Feb 13th 2008 7:54AM

Well, since "on guard" sounds similar to "en garde," it already was a pun. :)

xGeneral DEATHx @ Feb 13th 2008 8:12AM

That's deep.

Batzarro @ Feb 12th 2008 10:16PM

Keep it on the low! It's not THAT hard....

hvnlysoldr @ Feb 13th 2008 12:05AM

I've already spent my pirate joke quota of the week. Oh and I wouldn't touch a ten foot sword with a ten foot pole.

FOXHOUND @ Feb 13th 2008 7:50AM

I wonder where the line is drawn on stuff like that. For example... if I decide to make a model of the Highwind(FF7) on my own and sell it on eBay for a mediocre profit; would Squ'enix be able to sue for that scenario? What if I sold(as resale)their games & assorted products from their store?

dizzy @ Feb 13th 2008 12:07PM

wishful thinking, but I suppose I'd like to see an official licensed Buster Sword from FFVII:AC for sale, that separates into the individual swords. I suppose they'd charge a couple thousand dollars for it though...

Grant @ Feb 13th 2008 3:15PM

i'm surprised no ones commented on the sheer weight that those swords must carry, unless hollow or plastic.

I've handled a few average to large sized swords, but they still come nothing close to the comically large size of FF swords, and even those larger ones were hard to handle in any sort of comfort with 2 hands. I can't imagine what an accurate replica of clouds sword would weigh.