Don't Buy Counterfeits

27 June 2010

By Ben Evans

A rather unfortunate tourist in Italy has been on the receiving end of a E1000 fine after purchasing a counterfeit Louis Vuitton handbag.

An area of Venice called Jesolo has become a zero tolerance area for the sale of counterfeit products by illegal vendors. If a vendor is caught selling counterfeit goods then they can face imprisonment however more controversially those buying the goods face fines of up to E10,000.

The idea behind this is to discourage tourists from buying the vendors goods and thus stop their sale. However the tourist in question a Mrs Corel stated that whilst she knew the bag was counterfeit she did not know that purchasing it violated local law and that as a tourist she was not given adequate notice that such activities were illegal. Unfortunately for Mrs Corel this argument was not considered an acceptable defence, it is after all effectively a defence of ignorance of the law.

The local hoteliers are less than happy about what they feel will drive away tourists and to show their discontent they actually paid Mrs Corel's fine. The moral of the story really is not to buy counterfeit goods!

Ben Evans is a trainee solicitor at Lawdit.