February 2008
Fake Britain
The BBC’s Money Programme exposes the worrying extent and effect of Britain’s counterfeiting industry tonight.
The result of a poll by the Money Programme investigating the reach of counterfeit and fake goods in Britain will be aired tonight on BBC 2. The results show that of 991 people polled, 19 % said that they think that they have bought counterfeit goods. Of these, around a third said they’d bought counterfeit DVDs and 24% said they’d bought fake fashion goods.
Experts said that the counterfeit industry is booming and is growing extremely fast year on year. The Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) ceased 28 million fake DVD’s in 2007, a 74% increase on the previous year. Approximately 7% of the world’s industry is estimated to be based on counterfeit goods at a value of around £150 billion. The Anti-Counterfeiting Group estimate the cost to Britain at around £11 billion a year.
The results of the poll do not even include illegal downloads from the internet. The British Phonographic Institute (BPI) reports an estimate that in 2004 there were 7.4 million people in the UK who have illegally downloaded music from the internet.
The reasons for the increase are unclear. Technological advances have enabled much easier copying of information. Such ease of access to copies of information can also change attitudes to counterfeiting generally. Haider Ali of the Open University believes that the changing attitudes of the public have influenced the increase in the counterfeit industry. He believes that two of the most influential character traits that lead to acceptance of counterfeiting are a low opinion of the law generally and a dislike of big businesses which are seen as being behind the genuine goods.
However, it is often not big businesses that suffer the worst affects. Tony Swaffield of New Era, a medium sized business famous for baseball caps, estimates that 30 to 40% of products with the New Era brand are counterfeit.
Briffa’s Comment
The New Era example highlights that the impact of counterfeiting is not borne equally by all businesses. A trendy label can become the target of the counterfeiters and the more counterfeits the public see, the more acceptable it can appear to buy one. The best option is to react quickly where counterfeiting operations are detected.
The problem can be even more difficult for small businesses that don’t have the resources to tackle the problem through legal action. Registration of brands reduces the costs of such action significantly and insurance to cover the risk is available.
It is important for each business to protect their own assets but the wider problem will not be stopped by individual actions. The issue is fuelled by public perception that copying is a victimless crime. Collective action such as publicity around the issue and some strong action from the government could make a difference. The recent proposals to force Internet Service Providers to suspend downloader’s accounts may or may not be just and carries many risks if implemented badly, but the mere proposal sends a signal that this activity is not acceptable.