Korean Advent Children Rip-Off Punishment Increased

Not only has the Seoul High Court rejected an appeal from Korean music video producer Fantom Entertainment over a ruling that the company infringed upon the copyright of Square Enix’s Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children movie, the court has increased the fines levied against Fantom Entertainment for a second time. In March 2007 Fantom Entertainment released a music video for Korean singer IVY’s song “Temptation of Sonata.” Square Enix sued, and the lower Seoul Central District Court found that 80% of the video was copied from the storyline, setting, characters, costumes, and demeanors of the Advent Children movie. Fantom Entertainment was initially fined 10 million won ($10,900 USD), and Fathom CEO and the video’s director were given separate fines of 6 million won ($6,500 USD) each. The penalty totaled 300 million won ($244,000 USD) when the case was settled in March 2008. The Seoul High Court rejected an appeal, and raised Fathom’s fine to 400 million won ($326,000 USD) on July 3.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter