KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 — The High Court has ordered the Road Transport Department (JPJ) director-general to pay RM40,000 as compensation and RM25,000 in costs to Malaysian man Hasan Azhari Hashim for infringing the latter’s copyright on a proposal to issue “MADANI” as special vehicle number plates.
Hasan Azhari’s lawyer Rajesh Nagarajan today said this decision was delivered on Tuesday by High Court judge Datuk Edwin Paramjothy Michael Muniandy.
On January 15, 2025, Hasan Azhari had sued the JPJ director-general over the latter’s launch of public bidding for the “MADANI” special number plates.
Hasan Azhari claimed that the JPJ director-general had copied his idea and concept in his copyrighted proposal for “MADANI” number plates.
According to Rajesh, Hasan Azhari had registered with the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO) a copyright for his proposal paper for the “MADANI” plates, with the copyrighted work titled “Kertas Kerja Mewujudkan Nombor Plat Khas Kenderaan Bersiri Madani 1 Sehingga Madani 9999 Untuk Didaftarkan Di Malaysia”.
Based on court documents, Hasan Azhari had sent several proposals in 2023 to the government to propose the issuance of “MADANI” number plates for the serial numbers 1 to 99.
But the government turned down Hasan Azhari’s proposal in October 2023 and February 2024, as the government’s new policy since May 2018 no longer allowed private companies, non-governmental organisations and others to sell special number plates for vehicles.
Previously, companies and non-governmental organisations were allowed to sell JPJ’s special number plates, such as “MALAYSIA 1” and “PATRIOT”.
Under the current Malaysian government’s policy, only the JPJ can issue and sell special number plates.
In October 2024, JPJ launched and sold the “MADANI” number plates from 1 to 9999 through public bidding.
In court papers, Hasan Azhari claimed that JPJ had used his copyrighted proposal without authorisation, alleging that the latter’s poster in October 2024 contained similarities to his poster in his copyrighted work.
He claimed that the JPJ had used the word “MADANI” and concept of issuing the special number plates which were part of his copyrighted work, and that the graphic elements, colours and typographical styles in JPJ’s poster resembled his poster.
In a statement of defence previously filed in court, the JPJ director-general had denied that there was copyright infringement and said the proposal in Hasan Azhari’s poster was different from the government’s roll-out of the “MADANI” plates as seen in its poster.
The JPJ director-general had also argued that the Malaysian government had started using the “MADANI” slogan since January 19, 2023 and that it is not a new word invented or a word registered as a copyright by Hasan Azhari.
The JPJ director-general also argued that it is a common practice for JPJ to issue special number plates for Malaysian vehicles and that it is not a new idea invented or copyrighted by Hasan Azhari.
The JPJ director-general had urged the High Court to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming that Hasan Azhari did not have a valid cause of action as he was challenging the implementation of government policy and as the court case was frivolous.
As part of his lawsuit, Hasan Azhari had sought multiple court orders, including for the JPJ director-general to pay 50 per cent of the proceeds from the sales of the “MADANI” number plates from 1 to 9999 as compensation for using his copyrighted work.
Ultimately, the High Court on Tuesday only granted the order for statutory damages at RM40,000, along with costs.
The High Court’s decision can be appealed, and the JPJ director-general will have one month to do so if he wishes to pursue an appeal.
When commenting on the decision, Rajesh said that his client never tried to prevent the government from introducing initiatives that benefit the public, but was instead seeking recognition that creative works deserve legal protection and cannot be appropriated without permission.
“This judgment sends an important message that intellectual property rights are not diminished simply because the alleged infringer is a public authority. Copyright belongs to its creator, and the law applies equally to every person and every institution, including the government. Public authorities are expected to uphold the law, and that necessarily includes compliance with Malaysia’s copyright legislation,” Rajesh said in a brief statement today.
Recommended reading:
You May Also Like