Malaysia – In an effort to defend the company’s creative integrity, the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia (4As) has recently expressed its utmost denunciation of Persatuan Insurans Am Malaysia (PIAM) and the Malaysian Takaful Association’s assertion of ownership and retention rights over the intellectual property outlined in the agency’s pitch proposals.
This initiative follows the recently issued Request for Proposals (RFP) from the two companies inviting advertising agencies to submit their proposals for a consumer education campaign addressing the “Phased Liberalisation of Motor and Fire Tariffs.”
Said RFP involves a clause stating, “All supporting materials and other documentation submitted with the response will become the property of the associations unless otherwise requested by the proposers at the time of submission.”
Within clause 2.14, it states that ideas, concepts, strategies, trademarks, and materials presented by any advertising agency to an advertiser in an RFP are intended solely for enabling the advertiser to decide whether to engage the agency’s ongoing services.
Furthermore, unless expressly requested in writing and objected to by the agency before proposal submission, both companies also unethically assert ownership and retention of the intellectual property described in an agency’s pitch proposals.
In a media statement by the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia, CEO Khairudin Rahim stressed that clause 2.14 is deemed oppressive and highly prejudicial to agencies that are unsuccessful, as it deprives them of intellectual property rights for future bids or projects.
At the same time, said RFP is also anticlimactic given the 4As’ repeated calls for advertisers to eliminate unfair and unethical intellectual property retention clauses from procurement documents. It thus amounts to a demand for free ideas, contradicting core business principles and global norms of business dealings with the creative industry.
Following this event, 4As advises agencies not to join bids or pitches with unethical clauses. They also suggest that agencies keep ownership of their ideas, plans, and work unless the advertiser is willing to fairly compensate for the rights.
The 4As appealed through correspondence for PIAM and MTA to remove Clause 2.14 from future RFP and pitch documents directed at advertising agencies. Since its appeal on August 9, 29, and October 26, there has been no notable response from PIAM or MTA.
