this post was submitted on 02 Feb 2024
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I take a rock from the moon, nobody owns the rock nor the moon. I don't think I'm stealing it then. I'm just taking it.
So yes, something needs to be owned in order to be able to actually steal it.
The difference being that you not buying the moon rock doesn't affect a person that worked to produce that rock (because there isn't one) whereas pirating a copy of a game because you decide you don't want to pay money for it because you fear you might not be able to play it permanently, that's work theft, you're profiting off the work of a person/team by enjoying the product they made to sell without compensating them.
I'm sure you wouldn't appreciate it if your boss came up with a similar way to justify not paying you for the work you do and he told you "Oh no, I'm not stealing anything!"
That's where I'm at. Whether or not a product is digital or freely reproducible is irrelevant, because rights to distribute ultimately belong to whoever wrote it. Their terms. Violating those terms to obtain a copy, again whether legitimately following those terms would give you full access to a copy or a license to use, is still theft. It's easier to justify theft when the impact on the victim is so small, but even if it was zero, that doesn't make it not theft. I'll say it again, those are justifications, not disqualifiers.
Not that I'm some bootlicker either, I've got a jellyfin setup and you can guess where I got those movies. The difference is I'm not gaslighting myself into thinking that there's anything legitimate about it. I fucking stole them dude (edit, and I don't have a shred of guilt either). It's just a stupid catchphrase, with logic comparable to "If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns"
I see. So if I make a Mickey Mouse cartoon I own that?
If it's steamboat yeah. Otherwise you just can't distribute it. Obtaining copyright is it's own can of worms, and I'm not the guy to ask about it
I think you know it wasn't steamboat that I was referring to.
So let me ask you: if a company can own an idea how come they get to own ideas off those ideas? Do farms get own the energy I get from food? Why are derived works also held by the company forever?
I wasn't sure if you meant steamboat, but that's the cool thing about the word "otherwise", I can give you conditional answers. English is neat that way.
Anyway, like I said already copyright law isn't in my wheelhouse. Actually, I'm confused, what are you arguing exactly? That pirated copies are derived works? I don't understand what this has to do with piracy.
I am pointing out that copyright law is written to protect the wealthy and not to protect artists, which is why I won't defend it. In theory the law could be redesigned so that it did but that is not going to happen.
On a related note: can you explain why I can't patent it copyright a recipe? Is food not a creative act?
False analogy. When I am being paid to design something it is to bring something into the world that does not exist. If my employer could find it in the world they wouldn't pay me.
The solution is to purchase a game, but then also pirate a drm free version of it.
Although an ideal solution would be to prevent companies from imposing those restrictions in the first place.
They already have. Wage theft is by far the largest form of theft in the US, and they certainly try to claim that it is legal.
So it makes it ok to do it too?
They're clearly working on the principal of "might makes right" considering that every single digital media company has had instances of "selling" customers media, and then deciding to make it impossible for the customer to use said media, and they never give refunds.
What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
Since they are legally people, and they have all the power, then clearly it's ok for the rest of us to be thieves, just like them
How about the creators?
It's funny because so far all the pro pirating arguments ignore the creators, the work they do and the fact that they have to make a living too.
If you're referring to any of the major media companies the creators already got paid. Hollywood and the software industry both use Hollywood accounting so there's never any profits to be shared in residuals.
Again if they want to be predatory thieves in their business models, it's totally fine for us to steal right back.
Do you think people don't pirate indie games?
Piracy ≠ lost sales. If they pirate it helps the creator gain a wider audience. Piracy helps creatives, it only harms IP copyright trolls
If piracy didn't exist at all, do you really think sales numbers would be the same?
Nope. There are studies out there that show they'd have fewer sales. Look at what happened in Japan.