In industries where copying is accepted, like with cooking and fashion, the level of creativity is very high. You could argue that a high fashion brand "loses money" when a low price retailer, like H&#38;M or Zara, produces more or less the same design, but very few do.<p>I recommend reading "The Pirate's Dilemma" which is available from $0.00 upwards at <a href="http://thepiratesdilemma.com/download-the-book" rel="nofollow">http://thepiratesdilemma.com/download-the-book</a><p>Edit: The difference between the high fashion brand and the low price retailer clothes are quality, perceived quality, recognition/brand, legitimacy and cost. Which is more or less the same difference as between a pirated copy and an original one.