Square Enix sues SNK over past copyright infringement allegations

Square Enix announced that it brought a declaratory judgment suit against SNK Playmore as a response to previous accusations of copyright infringement. SNK sued Square Enix in May, claiming the Final Fantasy publisher used copyrighted SNK characters without permission in the High Score Girl manga. SNK alleged that characters from The King of Fighters and Samurai Shodown were used more than 100 times without permission.

Following the lawsuit, police collected evidence in early August from Square Enix's offices, and the publisher stated it "has been cooperating fully with police investigations since the domiciliary search, and will continuously maintain the cooperative stance with good faith." Square Enix is now seeking an authoritative opinion from the Osaka District Court to determine that it has not infringed on SNK's copyright and will "prove the point through civil procedures."