Counterfeit

A fake or a forgery is the deliberate manufacture of an object or information to mislead third parties. Attempts are often made in the counterfeit, copy an original or a legally protected product in all its properties, materials, signatures and trademark so that it appears as an original or as a branded product. It may also happen that there is a fake no original as specified in the manufacturer's forgery, artist, politician or writer, or none of the localities, deeds, works of law or scientific sources exist (see fraud and forgery in science).

A special form of counterfeiting is the distortion.

Subjects and objects

Forgery is available in many areas:

  • History, see falsification of history
  • Other sciences
  • Art compare art forgery
  • Literature ( eg, J. Macpherson's "Fragments of ancient poetry, collected in the highlands of Scotland ", 1760 as an alleged work of Ossian )
  • Para-science, such as UFO Photos
  • Justice, cf false testimony, perjury
  • Journalism and political propaganda.

Be forged among other

  • Documents ( eg, falsification of documents, with ID forgery, election fraud, Donation of Constantine, pseudoisidorische Decretals )
  • Antiques (eg furniture)
  • Computer ( fake hardware, and software)
  • Drug
  • Branded goods (eg watches, clothing ) in the piracy
  • Spare parts ( eg vehicles, electronic equipment )
  • Relics (especially in the Middle Ages )
  • Collectibles (see collect ) in the field of Philately (see stamp forgery )

Famous fakes

  • Hitler diaries, forged by Konrad Kujau made ​​famous by the publication in the magazine Stern. The history of this forgery was entitled Schtonk! filmed.
  • Donation of Constantine: alleged creation of the Papal States
  • Privilege Maius: extensive forgery of the 14th century, which gave the Dukes of Austria special rights
  • Hamburg's city charter of 1189, supposedly free letter of Barbarossa, actually by interested merchants;
  • The Santilli film, which shows an alleged autopsy of an alien;
  • Cottingley Fairies; 1917 fake photos of children of fairies, such as Arthur Conan Doyle believed in their authenticity until his death, and their secret was revealed only in 1983;
  • Walam Olum, fake icons and descriptions of the migration of the Lenni Lenape from Asia to North America
  • In the scandal over the Francis Drake badge popped a historically documented plaque made ​​of brass in honor of the 1597 landing were made by Francis Drake in the California Bay in 1936 as a forgery and was considered until the 1970's for real.
  • 2005 appeared an edition of Sidereus Nuncius Galileo, in the hitherto apparently unknown ink drawings of Galileo were included. These international experts befundene as genuine sensational discovery proved to be no later than 2012 as a forgery, which had been brought by alleged the Italian antiquarian Marino Massimo De Caro in the antiques trade.

Known counterfeiters

  • Handwriting forger: Václav Hanka
  • Forger:
  • Marino Massimo De Caro
  • Counterfeiters in journalism: TV reporter Michael Born
  • Lebanese photographer Adnan Hajj Reuters
  • The Swiss journalist Tom Kummer
  • Check forger: Frank W. Abagnale

Legal Significance

The following facts can be met by a fake:

  • Forgery of money and valuables is a criminal offense ( § 146 to § 152b StGB).
  • Counterfeiting of copyrighted works is basically governed by the Copyright Act.
  • Forgery of an artist's signature is treated in § 107 of the Copyright Act.
  • Falsification of records is an offense under § 267 of the Criminal Code ( forgery ).
  • Forgery for the purpose of wrongfully obtaining profit is a fraud offense under § 263 StGB.
  • Forgery of works of art ( art forgery ) in Germany is not an independent tort, but is punished 267 of the Criminal Code pursuant to § 263 of the Criminal Code and §.
Original (disambiguation) Unidentified flying object False statement Collecting Counterfeit money Privilegium Maius Adnan Hajj photographs controversy Subreption Deception (criminal law) Counterfeit consumer goods Double Doublet Replica Trojan Horse Integrated Authority File
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