The Aktion Plagiarius association has been drawing attention to the business practices of counterfeiters since 1977. Companies affected by product piracy register the counterfeits for the negative prize; they submit the original product, the counterfeit and also documentation of the first steps taken against the plagiarist. Aktion Plagiarius then contacts the counterfeiters again itself and requests a statement. Sometimes this is enough for the retailers to remove the counterfeit from the market or name the manufacturer.

However, the association does not only pillory counterfeiters of consumer goods: in 2009, the counterfeiter of Festo'sDGE timing belt axle was "honored"; in the same year, a "special prize for a counterfeit" also went to the counterfeiter of a Wika pressure measuring device. However, the company continued to struggle with counterfeiters: in 2014, the counterfeiter of the 111.11.-B pressure gauge won the negative prize. In 2011, Rittal entered the Plagiarius campaign: the counterfeiter of the TS8 enclosure was presented with a dwarf with a golden nose. Another industrial component was the victim of a counterfeit, as can be seen in the picture gallery.

As the campaign made clear during the award ceremony, it does not want the award to say anything about whether the respective counterfeit is permitted or illegal in the legal sense. Aktion Plagiarius merely wants to draw attention to the problems of affected companies and express the opinion "that clumsy 1:1 imitations are unimaginative and morally reprehensible". In this context, the association emphasizes "that legal competitor products that follow a trend but differ sufficiently from the original in terms of appearance and technology and thus stimulate fair competition are expressly welcome.
competition are expressly welcome".

Entrepreneurial risk must be worthwhile

Whether counterfeiting, design plagiarism, technology theft or piracy - the manifestations of product and brand piracy are manifold. They can now be found in all price and quality gradations: from dangerous cheap imitations to high-quality copies that are hardly cheaper than the original. For consumers, counterfeiting is often just a trivial offense; for the designers, manufacturers or retailers concerned, it means enormous damage, sometimes threatening their very existence. The Plagiarius campaign is therefore also campaigning for more appreciation and respect from buyers for the work behind the product. After all, it is a lengthy and cost-intensive process from the initial idea to the market-ready end product, in which the developers or brand owners regularly have to make financial advance payments. In order to secure progress and jobs in the future, this entrepreneurial risk must be worthwhile. "However, this does not work if unscrupulous free riders with few ideas unabashedly copy successful products, pass them off as their own work, offer them at a supposedly lower price and thus unjustifiably take market share and profits from the original manufacturer," says the Plagiarius campaign.

Counterfeits on the rise on the internet

The Internet offers opportunities for growth and customer loyalty. Dubious providers have also recognized this and are using the advantages of online trading for their own purposes. According to the Plagiarius campaign, counterfeits and fakes are not only "omnipresent" on the Internet. International authorities such as Europol and Interpol successfully close down tens of thousands of websites every year for trading in counterfeit products. Nevertheless, the supply of illegal brand and design products remains high. "The providers often hide behind the anonymity of the World Wide Web and continue their business within a very short time under a new company and domain name," warns Aktion Plagiarius. The majority of counterfeiters have excellent global networks and are very adept at using digital media: in addition to counterfeit brand websites, they are increasingly using e-commerce platforms and social media networks.

Price-performance ratio is crucial

The Plagiarius campaign emphasizes that originals and counterfeits are usually only deceptively similar at first glance: "Consumers must not be naively under the illusion that the aim of counterfeiters is to offer them high-quality counterfeit brands at a 'fair' bargain price." Many counterfeiters continue to focus on maximizing profits quickly. For example, they use inferior materials, dispense with quality and safety checks, produce under inhumane working conditions and cheaply put the health of people in the factories and consumers at risk. As markets are regulated by supply and demand, every consumer bears a considerable responsibility.