Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and is not meant to be used or construed as legal advice in any manner whatsoever. All articles have been scrutinised by a practising lawyer from Tristan & Partners to ensure accuracy.
Last week, designer Fey Ilyas took to social media to allege that the Malaysian Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) had “stolen” his creative agency’s concept for the Malaysia Pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka without compensation or credit.
At the time of writing, the post has already gotten over 34,000 likes on Instagram, a sign of the general public’s support of the artist’s claims.
Here’s what happened.
“Plagiarism by adaptation”
“The Malaysian Pavilion for Expo 2025 Osaka is built on stolen creative work,” Fey’s post claims. “Our proposal was appropriated by MITI Malaysia without acknowledgement or compensation.”
Fey went on to claim that MITI had engaged his company Current Media Group (CMG) as creative consultants in 2022 to develop the concept, theme, narrative, and architectural direction for the 2025 exhibition. The post also shows proof of their proposal decks, which was allegedly proposed to MITI in September 2022.
“They used our concept. And we prepared the papers, presentations, and submissions documents that got it approved,” Fey elaborated.
Screenshots of the official Expo 2025 website and the Malaysia Pavilion’s official website showed the same copywriting that Fey’s team had prepared in their proposal.
Fey argued that the similarities between their proposal and MITI’s official statements are not “coincidental similarity” but a “deliberate reworking of the core idea and intent behind our theme, trimmed down but unmistakably ours.”
The creative agency also claimed that MITI had used their architectural direction, which was created in collaboration with Japanese architectural firm Kengo Kuma & Associates.
“We introduced them directly to MITI, crafted the architectural design brief, and actively facilitated the collaboration between both parties,” he said.
The post alleges that the team worked under tight deadlines for eight months, but then were suddenly dropped in January 2023, and that their work was put up for an open tender.
“We get it—sometimes plans change. Ideas get scrapped. New directions are taken. If MITI had decided to start over and called for new proposals in their tender, we wouldn’t be here. We would’ve respected that,” the post reads.
“But that’s not what happened. They continued using the work we developed, and to this day, refuse to acknowledge or compensate us for it.”
Fey claimed that they’ve met with Tengku Zafrul and the Expo secretariat, and have sent multiple letters including a letter support from Kengo Kuma & Associates addressed directly to the minister.
“When I tried to speak up publicly, I was blocked by Tengku Zafrul and restricted by the official Expo 2025 Malaysia Instagram page,” he claimed.
Fey said that they finally received a response that MITI will not be paying them due to a lack of procurement records.
“We’re not asking for applause,” Fey wrote. “We’re asking not to be stepped on.”
MITI is investigating
On April 26, MITI released a statement regarding the allegations.
They acknowledged the allegation pertaining to the Malaysia World Expo concept creation, and stated that MITI is currently “undertaking a thorough investigation to gather and ascertain all relevant facts concerning the allegation made by an individual on social media.”
“We take this matter very seriously and reserve all our legal rights. MITI remains committed to the highest standards of integrity and compliance in all its dealings. We will take the necessary legal action if and when necessary,” they said.
How you can protect your work
To understand potential legal repercussions of the situation, we spoke to Tristan Ng, a practising lawyer from Tristan & Partners.
“Yes, the use of the Expo designs may be considered an infringement of copyright,” he said. “Such designs or concepts may be deemed as literary works which are works eligible for copyright.”
According to Tristan, for infringement of copyright, as long as the work is reproduced or used without the original author/owner’s permission, it is already an infringement.
“In my view, such proposals may fall under reports or memorandums which is covered by copyright law,” he claimed.
“If the works are covered under copyright law, the original owner or author may bring a civil action against the wrongdoer seeking for damages, accounts for profit, or an injunction to stop the works from being used further.”
If you’re a creative who has applied for a job or project, you might have experienced preparing and submitting slide decks or documents as proposals or examples of your work.
But in these situations, how can you ensure that your work won’t be stolen or appropriated?
According to Tristan, there are a few steps you can take:
- Have an agreement with the person you are presenting.
- In such an agreement, include an IP Clause laying down your ownership on all the documents or concepts.
- If possible, have parties sign a non-disclosure agreement and bind them to confidentiality.
- Limit disclosure by stating that you will share your full work once an agreement is formalised.
- Ensure all communication between the author and the party he pitched to is captured in writing.
As creatives ourselves, we empathise with the plight of plagiarism. To other creatives in the field, be sure to take the necessary steps to protect your own creativity and work.
Featured Image Credit: Fey Ilyas / MITI
