Some copies are bought by the unsuspecting as 'original', paying the retail price (or close to it...); these are a loss of sales to the original makers. Others are bought at 'knock down' prices, and are known to be fake by the buyer, who would not, probably, have bought an original in any case, so no loss of sale. These latter may be 'damaging' to the reputation of the original maker if they are shoddy; often enough these fakes are, indeed, as good as, or better, than the model they are copying, at least from a player's point of view. There are 'fake' Rics out there that are searched for as being better than a real one (and are now even more expensive to buy..!). Just sayin'.