In the "marketplace" of education, the paper was the token that the student expended the mental effort of doing the work, which would be graded on its merits as a sign of what he should have done. You faked that token knowingly. Your customer did no work, and the professor would never have accepted the monetary equivalent of what he paid you for that work. Not at any multiple, if he wanted to keep his job and the university its accreditation.

> Academic papers don't

Did you get paid for them? If yes, they had a market value. That's the most basic definition of a market--a buyer and seller negotiating and agreeing upon a price for a good or a service. "Market" doesn't mean commodity. Hopefully you weren't writing anyone's economics papers...

> there isn't a pre-existing reference good that has a defined market value to counterfeit

By your rationalization, it's impossible to counterfeit a painting.

Can you explain to me how you would come to that conclusion?

It seems increasingly likely that your customers got what they deserved.

Counterfeit goods are not labeled counterfeit for their labor condition origins.