Is Piracy Wrong?

[Tyranomaster]

Piracy is a broad term that refers to many different actions.

I think there have been a few studies that have shown that digital piracy tends to actually be beneficial to the "victims" in the long term. Most pirates are individuals who simply cannot afford to pay for what is provided, even if they wish they could. Sometimes that isn't the case, and the piracy is more malicious, but in those cases, the publisher has frequently put out a mediocre product, and telegraphed in advance that this was likely going to be the case (think the female ghostbusters reboot).

I read a lot of fan translations for webnovels that eventually get published here in the US by companies like yen press. I own hundreds of books spanning dozens of series, and I've never opened the books. I have read them though. I wouldn't have bought them if I hadn't.

Maritime piracy literally deprives a buyer from receiving what they paid for though. If you are literally thieving from your fellow man, whether robbing a store or a boat, that is messed up. You may have good reasons (I need to feed my family), but that doesn't excuse the crime.

Digital piracy does not directly deprive buyers from buying the work they wish to. It may deprive them from buying future works, but imo it just accelerates the pace at which people realize someone's product is inferior. (You no longer have to wait for 3 sequels to realize the product is shit).

 

[fluffypie374]

One Piece of advice: Piracy is like going on an adventure into a dungeon. You will be happy and giddy with the loot, until you get hit by a death trap, realizing you... only have one life.

 

[ATRUNA]

Piracy against small authors? Yes.
Piracy against big corporations that do not care about making their games available? no.

 

[GhoulDrago]

Piracy is wrong, you're copying things while denying appropriate compensation to the creators who have put a lot of work in their creations.

But it's gonna exist anyways because a lot of people simply don't have the money to buy things, or because it's much more convenient for them. In many of those cases you're not getting the money either way anyways.
Edit: as for maritime piracy? I'm calling the navy on your ass

 

[melchi]

It is wrong unless you have a privateers license

 

[Lloyd]

Stealing your novel and putting it on another site is piracy. It's wrong.

 

[Danteye]

Morally, yes, it is wrong, no matter how many people say that what they're doing is a "good thing" and they're actually helping combat "bad practices." I pirate a lot of really shitty and badly translated Chinese games because I like the genres of martial arts, wuxia, and xianxia. I can never bring myself to justify spending money on them because of the lack of quality control for English localizations. Occasionally, I will find a pretty good one and buy it, though. But I acknowledge that when I do it, it is morally wrong. That's one of my main peeves with modern pirates: the mental gymnastics they will go through to deny any personal responsibility for what they do. Just own up to it, my guy.

 

[LuoirM]

One Piece is cool so no

 

[RepresentingWrath]

No.

 

[prognastat]

Piracy is wrong, you're copying things while denying appropriate compensation to the creators who have put a lot of work in their creations.

That same argument could be used to argue that boycotting or even simply refusing to buy a product is wrong. Both also deny compensation to creators who have put effort in their creations. Libraries do the same, but we think they're a good thing. Selling a used copy of the creation also does the same.

Also both the "appropriate" part and the "a lot" part are subjective. If the creator didn't put a lot of effort in does that make copyright infringement ok by your moral framework? Also who decides what appropriate compensation is? If it's the consumer of the creation then by pirating it they are effectively making a statement that they feel the appropriate compensation is free counter to what the creator believes since they are charging some kind of price.

An argument can be made that a better work with more effort put in that transcends the norm and becomes a great work is more important to pirate so it can affect as many people as possible improving culture and possibly society. It could be argued that adding a barrier to entry to something that truly enriches the world is the morally wrong thing to do while things of lesser cultural value aren't important enough to be shared.

That's all to say that copyright infringement isn't inherently wrong. We decided it was and made it legally wrong. However for the longest time no one saw copying a piece of media as somehow inherently wrong.

 

[BearlyAlive]

Well, no, but actually yes. It's legally wrong, sure, but sometimes it's the only way to get something. Have you ever tried to buy old obscure Japanese games? Or even untranslated eroge? Yeah, nope. For eroge I at least could use dlsite and others, but it's now blocked for Germany, since you need costly extra age verifications and other legal sh*t nobody bothers to even try to get.

For books, TV series, and movies? At least those that aren't animangas, it's pretty shitty. The weeb industry gets the moral ok since the industry is pretty much modern slavery. It's still legal, tho, so don't get caught.

 

[Notadate]

I’m Asian
-
Let break it down

People steal from walmart

People don’t from little grannies over there
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If I want it, it’s mine

 

[Deleted member 84247]

Pirates are cool, but vampirates are cooler.

 

[Notadate]

Pirates are cool, but vampirates are cooler.

I’ll agree because I am cool

 

[Bartun]

It depends.

If you're talking about pirating anime, movies, music, software, or video games, there are some countries where there are legal grounds for you to download free stuff from the internet as long as no one is profiting from it. Unlike the old days of piracy where you had to buy some CDs from the street, you can't profit from free downloads.

Now if we are talking about robbing vessels in the sea, that's absolutely illegal, and said vessel is legally cleared to defend itself.

 

[georgelee5786]

Yes

 

[Rezcore]

I would say yes, if this was asked of me 10 years ago. Now?

Games: if from AAA devs, no. From medium size studios, partly. Indies, yes. I pirates Sims 4 every new update. I use pirating to test games, but I will never pirate from indie devs.

I buy all my movies and shows in physical format. Don't ask how I get Korean dramas physical.

Music? I purchase the physical albums if possible, and burn cds of them if not.

Tldr; depends on the victim. Fuck EA and Ubisoft

 

[Rhaps]

Piracy is my way of life, of course I'd illegally download applications if I find them useful, and as for games, AAA games only.

Fuck you, Adobe

 

[Yule]

As someone who values morals a lot more than law, I'm gonna say piracy's actually beneficial in some cases, like...academic textbooks. The authors really don't need all that money from students over the world to get by, they're accomplished researchers and professors and academics. Us, we're just poor, lowly students trying to get by in the jacked up economy with what little money we have. I'll download any pirated textbook anytime.

 

[OP1000]

I pirate a lot of the media content that I consume because I am either unable to pay for the content or it is not accessible where I am from. Even so, I know what I am doing is morally wrong.