'Madani' license plates: Businessman demands RM1.3 million from govt over copyright infringement

KUALA LUMPUR - A businessman has issued a letter of demand (LOD) to the government demanding RM1.3 million in compensation over an alleged copyright infringement of the Madani vehicle registration plate number.

The letter was issued by Ilham Madani Sdn Bhd director Hasan Azhari Hashim to the Road Transport Department (RTD) and Transport Ministry through law firm Raj & Sach.

According to the LOD, Hasan claimed that there was infringement of intellectual property right for the Special Serial Vehicle Registration Number Madani 1 to Madani 9999 for Registration in Malaysia.

He gave the RTD and ministry seven days from the date the LOD was received to pay the compensation before he files a civil suit.

Hasan claimed that he was the rightful owner of the copyrighted work entitled "Proposal Paper for the Creation of a Special Serial Vehicle Registration Number Madani 1 to Madani 9999 for Registration in Malaysia" under Section 26B of the Copyright Act 1987.

"Through a letter dated Feb 27, 2023, addressed to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, which was the initial proposal, Hasan sought government agency collaboration to sell these license plates.

"On or around April 14, 2023, the RTD issued a statement clarifying that the department did not issue the MADANI serial registration plates and advised the public not to believe in false information," the LOD stated.

It also stated that on or around Aug 4, 2023, Hasan submitted a similar proposal through a second letter, which was received by the Prime Minister’s Office on Sept 26, 2023.

More than two months later, on Oct 25, the same year, the law firm confirmed that their client reiterated the same proposal in a third letter to the Prime Minister.

According to the firm, Hasan received a letter on Feb 6, notifying him that the proposal was under review.

However, he was informed that the proposal could not be considered due to a policy barring the issuance of Special Registration Numbers to private companies, non-governmental organisations or entities outside of RTD.

Nevertheless, last month, a notice revealed that the department had issued a public notice for the special registration number series "MADANI" with a minimum bidding price starting at RM100.

This move allegedly contradicted the information in the letters dated Oct 31 and Feb 6, effectively using their client’s copyrighted idea without authorisation, a clear violation of his copyright.

"Our client has found that his intellectual property rights were infringed by the unauthorised use, reproduction, distribution and alteration of the copyrighted work through the sale of special vehicle registration numbers "MADANI 1-9999,"" the firm stated.

On Oct 25, RTD director-general Datuk Aedy Fadly Ramli announced that the bidding for the MADANI special registration numbers opened from Oct 19 to Oct 23, had raised a total of RM2.62 million.

According to the statement, MADANI 6 fetched the highest bid at RM68,888, followed by MADANI 5 (RM58,001), MADANI 4 (RM55,000), MADANI 3 (RM51,111), and MADANI 33 (RM42,110).

A total of 5,632 bidders participated in the bidding, with 3,263 successfully obtaining their desired registration numbers.