Tokyo 2020 stands by plagiarism-accused Japanese designer

The president of the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee Yoshiro Mori on Monday said he was "confident" no changes would be made to the Olympic logo designed by the Japanese Kenjiro Sano, who has been accused of plagiarism by Belgian designer Olivier Debie, Belgian press reported on Tuesday.

"We have taken all the necessary measures," Mori said, "The choice of the logo is the work of experts in the arts, and if there was any hint of plagiarism, it would have been identified during the selection process."

After the emblem of Tokyo Olympics was officially unveiled late July, similarities were found with the Theatre of Liege logo.

Legal counsel for the director of the Theatre of Liege contacted the International Olympic Committee and the Japanese Olympic Committee on Friday, ordering them to provide a response to the plagiarism case within eight days, failing which a judiciary procedure would be started to prohibit the use of the Japanese logo.

None of the committees had officially responded by mail by Monday.

A summons for breach of copyright will soon be written by the plaintiffs' lawyers and be transmitted to the two committees.

At a press conference on Aug. 5, the Japanese designer Kenjiro Sano said he did not have knowledge of the Belgian logo before the accusations and denied any intention of plagiarism.