A businessman has given the Malaysian government an ultimatum: pay him RM1.3 million within seven days or be dragged to court.
This comes after the businessman claimed that the government had committed copyright infringement of the Madani vehicle registration plate number, reported NST.
Govt accused of copyright infringement for ‘Madani’ car plate
According to a letter of demand issued by Ilham Madani Sdn Bhd director Hasan Azhari Hashim, he claimed that he was the lawful owner of a copyrighted work named ‘Proposal Paper for the Creation of a Special Serial Vehicle Registration Number Madani 1 to Madani 9999 for Registration in Malaysia’.
He added that said work had been registered in the Copyright Register under Section 26B of the Copyright Act.
Hasan added that he had sent prime minister Anwar Ibrahim a letter last year which touched upon a possible collaboration for the sale of the car plate numbers. However, the deal allegedly fell through when the government declined his preposition.
On Oct 31, 2023, Hasan got a letter from the Transport Ministry informing him that his application was rejected due to an existing regulation that bars the issuance of Special Registration Numbers (NPI) to private companies, NGOs, and other entities besides JPJ.
‘Pay within 7 days or face lawsuit’
To Hasan’s shock, he later came to discover that a public notice was issued for the ‘Madani’ car number plate series from a minimum bid price of RM100.
In the letter, Hasan alleged that the government had “unlawfully utilised his idea and copyrighted work, which constitutes a clear infringement of his copyright.”
He also claimed that he continues to bear “significant financial losses and reputational damage.”
As such, the Transport Ministry and JPJ have seven days to pay RM1.3 million in compensation or face legal action.
When contacted by NST, Hasan’s lawyer Rajesh Nagarajan confirmed the incident.
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