Japanese game developer Koei Tecmo files suit in Tokyo against Youzu Singapore, part of YOOZOO Group, over alleged copyright infringement

Japanese video games developer Koei Tecmo has filed a lawsuit against Youzu (Singapore) in a Tokyo court, according to a notice made publicly available on Monday (8 April).

Youzu (Singapore) is the the "global hub" of the YOOZOO Group in the Asia Pacific, the entertainment company which owns the rights to the popular Chinese sci-fi franchise Three-Body Problem, an adaptation of which was recently released on streaming platform Netflix.

The suit (in Japanese and carried on Koei Tecmo's Japanese website) claims that Youzu (Singapore) has been using content such as music, game images, trademarks from its Nobunga's Ambition and Taiko Risshiden games in web advertisements.

According to the suit, despite repeated warning letters from Koei Tecmo to stop, Youzu (Singapore) has allegedly continued to infringe on the Japanese company's copyright.

The infringements were allegedly made on adverts for 成り上がり～華と武の戦国 (roughly translated as The Uprising: The Warring States of Flowers and War), Infinity Kingdom, and Dynasty Origins series. These games are published by Youzu (Singapore), and as such, the defendant in Koei Tecmo's legal filing.

Dynasty Origins has two games in the series, Conquest and Pioneer.

Koei Tecmo also publishes Dynasty Warrior games, which is based on the classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel.

"This is not the first time for the defendant's infringement behaviour, and we have sent multiple warning letters for the behaviour in the past, but the infringement has continued to repeat. We have also found statements that may mislead users into thinking that our company is related to the app," Koei Tecmo said in the claim, based on a machine translation of the notice.

Koei Tecmo is seeking an injunction as well as compensation for damages.

However, it is not clear if it can enforce the claims against a Singapore-based registered company.

Japan is not part of the Reciprocal Enforcement of Foreign Judgements Regime Act and any enforcement of claims will have to be filed in Singapore as a fresh action.

While YOOZOO is headquartered in Shanghai, the Singapore office is its global hub for the APAC region. According to YOOZOO, the Singapore office "plays a critical role in YOOZOO’s global aspirations".

Youzu (Singapore has also launched other game titles such as Game of Thrones: Winter is Coming, Light of Thel, and Saint Seiya.

The company's founder, Lin Qi, was fatally poisoned in 2020 by a former employee, who was recently sentenced to death.

Yahoo Southeast Asia has reached out to Youzu (Singapore) and Koei Tecmo's Singapore office for comment.

Aloysius Low is an ex-CNET editor with more than 15 years of experience. He's really into cats and is currently reviewing products at canbuyornot.com

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