Piracy is costing Malta €100 million a year

Malta loses an estimated €100 million a year to counterfeiting and piracy according to a report by the European Union’s Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).

The report was published last Wednesday, assessing the economic impacts of counterfeiting and piracy in economic areas known to be vulnerable to infringements of intellectual property rights.

The report estimated that the total value of lost sales amounts to €221 per citizen in Malta.

The hardest hit sector was the clothing retail with counterfeit garments, accessories and footwear contributing to lost sales amounting to around €76 million per year, or 14.1% of all sales in Malta.

According to the report, in fact, Malta topped the footwear seizure figures by value over the time frame, even though many of these types of products got away and were sold.

The study estimates that due to the upsurge of counterfeiting and the sales of said counterfeit products, legitimate manufacturers produced less material and thus employed fewer workers—around 468,000 jobs were lost in the EU because of this phenomenon, the report reads.

When it comes to cosmetic products, the estimated loss is that of €8 million, or 16.6% of all sales in Malta.

The report notes that the illegal activity generated significant costs to rights owners and the economy in general and added that illicit businesses who sold counterfeit merchandise usually made significant use of the internet to distribute their products.

EUIPO also conducted a survey which looked into people’s attitudes to counterfeit products infringing intellectual property rights. The majority said that it was likely to purchase counterfeit merchandise and to access copyright material online due to easy accessibility, lower pricing and a very low social stigma associated with doing so.