You might want to plan again. Square Enix is not playing with people and will take you to court. Korean pop star Ivy recently released a music video that Square Enix felt looked entirely too close to the likeness of Final Fantasy VII characters. As a result, Fantom Entertainment was sued by Square Enix. Apparently, the video was supposed to be a parody of Final Fantasy and that they did not get permission from SE but couldn’t find their contact information.

Seoul Central District Court judge Gu Hoe-geun ruled that Fantom Entertainment “illegally used 80 percent of the storyline, setting, characters and their styles of dress and their demeanors from video game Final Fantasy VII.” As a result, Fantom was fined US $10,900. The company’s director and the video’s director were both fined an $6,500 each. In addition to this, the actual civil suit against the video creators has yet to take place.

I’m not sure what world Fantom Entertainment lives in, but it’s not hard at all to get contact information for Square Enix. Have they heard of a little thing called Google? This story definitely shows that Square Enix will do whatever it takes to protect Final Fantasy. I’d normally feel that a parody should be off limits from lawsuits, but the defendant’s excuses seemed a little retarded. Definitely be careful when trying to rip off Final Fantasy VII, because Square Enix much like Borat live under the “death by crushing” rules.

Source: Kotaku