KUALA LUMPUR – The High Court here has ruled that the Director-General of the Road Transport Department (JPJ) is liable for copyright infringement over the use of promotional material for the MADANI special vehicle registration number bidding programme.
In a judgment delivered on Tuesday, Judge Datuk MM Edwin Paramjothy ruled that Ilham Madani Sdn Bhd programme director Hasan Azhari Hashim, as plaintiff, be awarded statutory and additional damages totalling RM40,000, along with costs of RM25,000.
The civil suit was filed on 15 Jan 2025 following allegations of unauthorised use of copyrighted promotional artwork belonging to Hasan Azhari during the government's launch of the special registration number bidding programme.
According to a media statement, the plaintiff's lawyer, Rajesh Nagarajan, said on Thursday that before the programme was implemented, his client had developed the proposal for the special registration plate numbers and even registered a copyrighted work titled "Kertas Kerja Mewujudkan Nombor Plat Khas Kenderaan Bersiri MADANI 1 sehingga MADANI 9999 Untuk Didaftarkan Di Malaysia" with the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO).
He said the plaintiff had also submitted the proposal to the government several times, but it was rejected on policy grounds.
However, he said, the government subsequently proceeded with the public bidding programme for the MADANI series, which allegedly used Hasan Azhari's copyrighted promotional material without permission.
Previously, on Nov 5, 2024, Sinar Harian reported that Hasan Azhari had issued a letter of demand (LOD) to the government seeking RM1.3 million in damages over the alleged intellectual property infringement.
Through the letter of demand, he sought damages equivalent to half the proceeds from the sale of the plate numbers, within seven days of the letter being received.
Based on the documents, Hasan Azhari claimed to be the rightful owner of the copyrighted work in question, under Section 26B of the Copyright Act 1987.
Meanwhile, on Oct 25, 2024, then JPJ Director-General Datuk Aedy Fadly Ramli announced that the MADANI Series Special Registration Number (NPI) bidding, held from 19 to 23 Oct 2024, had successfully collected RM2.62 million.
He said MADANI 6 recorded the highest bid price at RM68,888, followed by MADANI 5 (RM58,001), MADANI 4 (RM55,000), MADANI 3 (RM51,111) and MADANI 33 (RM42,110).
He added that the bidding attracted 5,632 participants, of whom 3,263 successfully won their respective registration numbers.
The case previously drew attention after Transport Minister Anthony Loke said Hasan Azhari was free to bring the matter to court.
Commenting on the High Court's decision, Rajesh said the ruling proves that intellectual property rights remain protected even when the party accused of infringement is a public authority.
"Our client never intended to prevent the government from carrying out an initiative that benefits the people.
"All that was sought was recognition that creative work is protected under the law and cannot be used without permission," he said.
According to the statement, the defendant has one month from the date of judgment to file an appeal, should it wish to do so.