LEGAL JOURNAL 10th edition

LEGAL JOURNAL 10th edition

Moral Rights of an Author: Malaysian Court of Appeal Decision

In the recent Court of Appeal case of Veronica Sainik @ Ronald v Meluha Life Sciences Sdn. Bhd. & Ors, the Court delivered an important reminder on academic integrity, plagiarism and authors’ moral rights.

📚 The case involved a postgraduate researcher whose Master’s dissertation and research findings were used in a patent application without crediting her as an inventor or author.

The Court of Appeal held that:

✅ Moral rights remain with the author even if copyright has been assigned to another party;

✅ Failure to credit an author may amount to infringement of the author’s right of paternity;

✅ Modification or use of research without proper acknowledgment can amount to plagiarism and research misconduct;

✅ A patent may be declared invalid if the invention had already been disclosed in an earlier published dissertation;

✅ The defendants were ordered to pay RM200,000 in damages for infringement of moral rights and aggravated damages.

📌 Key takeaway:

Academic work and research contributions must always be properly acknowledged. Ownership of copyright does not erase the author’s moral rights and plagiarism can carry serious legal and financial consequences.