What are Intellectual Property Rights and counterfeiting?
Tina would like to listen to the new album by Lady Lala.
What would you advise her to do?
- Go to the shop and buy the album;
- Download it from a legal download platform;
- Go to the cool website on which all music is free that a friend told her about;
- Don't download the album. Tina should listen to it via a legal streaming platform.
If you answered ‘1’, ‘2’ or ‘4’, you can be sure that Lady Lala will benefit from Tina’s choice.
If you answered ‘3’, it is likely that the website made Lady Lala’s music available without her authorisation.
Tina would like to buy the latest "Lady Lala" headphones and a T-shirt.
What would you advise her to do?
- Go to the ‘Lady Lala’s website and buy the products;
- Buy it from a market stall that her friend David told her about; the price is amazingly cheap!;
- Go to the Lady Lala's concert in two months and buy the products there.
If you answered ‘1’ or ‘3’, you can be sure that Lady Lala will benefit from Tina’s choice.
If you answered ‘2’, it is likely that the cheap T-shirt and headphones at the market are fakes.
Sooo... what is a counterfeit product in a nutshell?
A product that imitates another original product (sports shoes for example) and is then sold is a counterfeit product. This is not only about clothes – music, software, medication, car and aeroplane parts, toys, electronics, etc. can also be fake.
...and what about IPR?
As Lady Lala makes her albums, the music is considered as ‘hers’. This is what we call ‘Intellectual Property Rights’.