If you research a bit more, you will find Counterparty has not copied Mastercoin. Instead, Counterparty has created a project in the *same space* using a *different* approach. If Counterparty simply copied Mastercoin, why did Counterparty's development surpass that of Mastercoin's with a team of two core developers and no external funding in only half the time?
Because the Mastercoin dev's are incompetent?