Belgian Designer Drops Tokyo 2020 Logo Plagiarism Suit, Cites Legal Costs

Belgian designer Olivier Debie, who in August filed a plagiarism lawsuit over a Tokyo 2020 Olympics logo by Kenjiro Sano, said that he "will no longer pursue his grievance in court," according to KYODO. Debie said, "After consideration, I prefer to withdraw my complaint. Even if I were to win, the legal costs would be so high that I couldn't recoup my expenses." Debie had "claimed the design unveiled by Tokyo last summer copied key elements of a T-shaped logo he created" in '11 for Belgium's Theatre de Liege. Japanese designer Sano "denied committing plagiarism." While admitting he would have liked compensation for the time he lost during the lawsuit, Debie said that "he will not proceed with a defense hearing originally scheduled for Feb. 2." He said, "I have other projects" (KYODO, 1/27).