A satirical drawing of the emerging Corona virus, largely inspired by the emblem of the Tokyo Olympics, was withdrawn from circulation yesterday, after it sparked controversy and criticism from the organizing committee. The drawing unambiguously mixes the scientific form of the virus cell and the blue and white circular logo of the Games, which was to be hosted by the Japanese capital in the summer of this year, and postponed to next summer due to the consequences of the pandemic "Covid-19".
And the Olympic Organizing Committee considered that the drawing does not take into account the feelings of people about a pandemic that caused the death of more than 325 thousand people around the world, and also constitutes a violation of intellectual property rights.
The drawing was published on the front page of a magazine published by the Foreign Correspondents Club in Japan. Its president, Khaldoun Al-Azhari, announced today that the club decided to withdraw the fee from circulation and remove it from its website, after the advice of his lawyer that the club's defense of not violating the intellectual property rights through this fee, "not strong enough".
"The most important thing is that we are all in the crisis of the emerging coronavirus together, and it is clear that the cover insulted some people in our host country Japan," Al-Azhari said, expressing "a sincere regret" over what caused it.
The head of the Tokyo Olympics Organizing Committee, Toshiro Muto, said in a statement to reporters that "their response (club officials) was appropriate, and this is the result that we were hoping for."
The organizing committee spokesperson, Masa Takaya, criticized the drawing sharply, saying to reporters, Monday, that it was "very disappointing." He believed that the fee violates the intellectual property rights of the organizing committee, indicating that its officials have asked the club to withdraw it from circulation. He continued, "I must also say that he (the drawing) does not take into account the feelings of many people affected by this harmful and painful situation."