Holy cow: was anyone aware of Square's iron policy on copyright?

I was pretty impressed with how fast they responded, at least:

Originally Posted by Me

Greetings,
I am a music student in the Midwest currently enrolled in a music arranging class. One of my upcoming tasks is to take an existing piece of music and arrange it for a small woodwind ensemble. I am interested in taking Nobuo Uematsu's title motif from Final Fantasy II and using it for this purpose.

There will be a small performance of the final product, but within a classroom setting. After this there will be no further use of the music. I am writing for permission to use Final Fantasy II's melody for this purpose.
Thank you for your consideration.

Originally Posted by Their response

All content of our games is copyright SQUARE ENIX Co., Ltd. We regret to inform you that we do not grant permission to individuals to use any copyrighted content. Because we receive numerous requests, our policy is to decline any use of our copyrights. We currently are not granting permission to any one except our own business partners.

Well? Is that way too ridiculous or is that fair for a company such as Square-Enix? I mean they certainly have every right to deny me, but given the context of the request I personally think it's a little harsh. I kind of figured I'd get this kind of response going in, but it couldn't hurt to try. Does anyone know: are all entertainment companies like this? I have not written for permission from anyone else so I wouldn't know.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by JazzFlight

Fuck em, just do it.

Like anyone would actually know/care/be upset that it's from FFII and you didn't get permission?

My thoughts exactly but unfortunately part of the criteria for the project is to prove that we've gotten permission, if a copyright still exists for the piece.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Spikey

You'd be horrified at some of the more stupid examples (I have a couple for you), SquareEnix looks tame in comparison with the email they sent you.

I'd be interested in seeing some of these examples if you have them on hand.

I'm not especially keen on writing to other gaming companies. The project's due soon anyway and I can default to a classical piece that has no copyright. I think that these corporations' fascist policies on fair use contribute to the piracy, if only out of spite. Kind of a shame.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by ElectricSheep

Square has no right to deny you this. See § 110 of Title 17 (U.S. Copyright Law):

Fuck these bastards. Just to see how they'd respond, I decided to reply to their email with the information in ElectricSheep's post (among other things supporting fair use):

Quote:

I am disheartened and annoyed at your refusal to grant me permission to use this musical excerpt for educational purpose. Please refer to blah blah blah; etc... I expect a personalized response from one of you at Square-Enix addressing this issue. If you still refuse to grant permission for this not-for-profit and private study, then I would appreciate an explanation for this obvious neglect of fair use policy.

To which they immediately replied with the exact same message as before, but with a curt sentence at the end:

Originally Posted by Nazis

This is the final response and final answer to this issue.

I have a feeling I won't be paying for anything with the S-E logo on it anymore.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?