Association of Accredited Advertising Agents of Malaysia (4As) CEO Khairudin Rahim
PETALING JAYA: Following a recent request for proposals (RFPs) from the General Insurance Association of Malaysia (PIAM) and the Malaysian Takaful Association (MTA), the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia (4As) has expressed its dissatisfaction with the demand by the associations for the ownership and retention of agencies’ intellectual property.
PIAM and MTA recently issued an RFP for advertising agencies to submit their proposals for a consumer education campaign on the “Phased Liberalisation of Motor and Fire Tariffs”.
What upsetted 4As and in which it found disturbing was the contentious Clause 2.14 within the RFP documentation which reads: “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.”
Unless otherwise requested in writing and objected to by the agency before the proposals are submitted, PIAM and the MTA through this clause are unethically demanding for ownership and retention of intellectual property described in an agency’s pitch proposals regardless of whether the agency is selected or not, according to 4As CEO Khairudin Rahim.
“All ideas, concepts, strategies, trademarks, and materials that an advertising agency presents or provides to an advertiser in an RFP are provided for the sole purpose of allowing the advertiser to determine whether to engage the agency’s ongoing services,” he said, adding that no agencies under 4As responded to the invitation made by PIAM and MTA.
“4As member agencies have and will continue to decline pitch invitations which contain conditions and clauses similar to the above,” he noted.
As at press time, PIAM and MTA could not be reached for comments.
On Aug 9 and Aug 29, and again on Oct 26, the 4As appealed via correspondence that PIAM and MTA remove Clause 2.14 from their future RFP and pitch documents directed at advertising agencies. However, there has been no response from PIAM and MTA.
Khairudin added: “Clause 2.14 is oppressive and highly prejudicial to agencies who are unsuccessful as they would not in any future bid or project rely on their intellectual property rights.
“The inclusion of this clause by the PIAM and MTA is especially disappointing given the 4As repeated calls for advertisers to remove unfair and unethical intellectual property retention clauses from procurement documents.
“It is tantamount to a demand for free ideas, contradicting core business principles and global norms of business dealings with the creative industry.”
He pointed out that the 4As advice to agencies is not to participate in tenders and pitches which contain similar unethical clauses. The 4As recommends that agencies retain ownership of all ideas, plans, and work products unless the advertiser is prepared to pay the agency fairly for the rights.
Furthermore, he said 4As is always ready to provide assistance and has developed a best practice guide relating to ownership of agency developed intellectual property which is readily available on the association’s website.
The 4As Malaysia, formed in 1971, is the Malaysian industry’s foremost body that represents and promotes the value of advertising agencies in the marketing communications industry to advertisers, media, suppliers, government and the public.
The organisation encompasses more than 50 homegrown and multinational member agencies and agency brands, involved in brand strategy and marketing communications.
