Designer upset over unauthorised use of his design by gold-winning Thai team
A graphic designer has said that the Thai pencak silat team, which won the first gold medal for the country at the 2021 Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam, had used his design without permission.
Sucharn Chaweewan posted on his Facebook on Wednesday that his font "Thailand" appeared on the uniform of the Thai pencak silat athletes.
He said he had received the news from his friends after the team won the first medal in the competition. He congratulated the team on their victory but said he was sad that his design had appeared on the uniform.
Sucharn confirmed that no related organisation or association had contacted him and that he had not allowed any establishment or organisation to use the design.
He said the design was copyrighted and had already received the certificate from the Department of Intellectual Property.
He said he had always taught people that using online designs for yourselves or organisations without authorisation is a copyright infringement.
On Thursday, the Pencak Silat Association said that it had contacted the Commerce Ministry to help contact the designer.
The association said that it had not intended to violate the copyright and it is willing to take responsibility. It will also hold a press conference to explain the matter on Thursday afternoon.
Thailand won its first gold medal at the Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam on Wednesday when pencak silat martial artists Sobri Cheni, Abdulkarim Koolee and Abdulrahim Sidek scored 9,960 against Indonesia in the men's artistic category finals.
