this post was submitted on 16 Apr 2026
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Piracy: ꜱᴀɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴇᴀꜱ

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[–] Soot@hexbear.net 1 points 49 minutes ago* (last edited 48 minutes ago)

I'm at the last stage, and unapologetically so. I very frequently buy games and media, and/or donate to creators, IF it's actually good, the developer/publisher isn't a pos, and the price is vaguely fair.

I won't pay for subscription services. I'm basically at the point where I won't buy a game or piece of media if I can't pirate it first.

[–] Sickday@kbin.earth 3 points 3 hours ago

tbh these days I'm only grabbing stuff I couldn't really get any other way (ie. no service offers said media here). if a creator gets upset because I consumed their media without the capitalist part, well they shouldn't worry; it'll trickle down

[–] starman2112@sh.itjust.works 13 points 6 hours ago

I wish piracy was stealing, because stealing from the rich is good

[–] kibiz0r@midwest.social 5 points 5 hours ago

Culture is our most important invention as a species. So important, in fact, that we’ve evolved to make it essential to our individual health and collective capacity to function. To deny someone access to interact with culture on the basis of their lack of wealth is cruel and anti-human.

Likewise, developing something like an LLM, which spews thoughtless pollution into the only shared infosphere we have, and displaces individuals’ ability to connect to each other to develop culture… that is an existential threat to the human race and should be opposed vehemently.

[–] squaresinger@lemmy.dbzer0.com 18 points 7 hours ago

Got another option:

Copos had a chance to stop piracy. Netflix demonstrated that. A full all-you-can-watch buffet for €10 a month with everything you need available caused piracy to all but disappear.

Then they got greedy.

Piracy is just as much of a natural result of asshole pricing and market fragmentation as unionization and strikes are a natural result of employers being assholes and underpaying.

[–] mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works 5 points 5 hours ago

The copyright extensions in the 20th century are theft of the commons. Those corporations are taking from public domain and not paying back. They're thieves, and why should we care if large scale thieves become victims of theft?

Bring copyright back to the original 17 years plus a 17 year extension (max 34) in the US. Then we'll talk.

[–] maddie1312@lemmy.dbzer0.com 32 points 8 hours ago
[–] grueling_spool@sh.itjust.works 25 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

I'm in between 3 and 4: both copyright and copying are amoral (they are just tools), but copyright as it exists today is obsolete, arguably to the point that it actively hinders the betterment of humankind.

[–] Grail@multiverse.soulism.net 22 points 8 hours ago

In ancient Greece, everyone told stories about Achilles and Odysseus and Perseus.

Now we watch stories about Iron Man and Superman and the Jedi.

The difference is, back then stories belonged to everyone. Now stories belong to billionaires.

[–] 5PACEBAR@piefed.ca 11 points 7 hours ago (1 children)
[–] sneezycat@sopuli.xyz 1 points 4 hours ago

I'll stop pirating when piracy stops existing as a concept.

[–] quack@lemmy.zip 5 points 6 hours ago

Piracy is a service issue, plain and simple. It would be all but dead if media companies gave their customers what they actually wanted, but line must go up at the expense of literally everything else.

[–] deranger@sh.itjust.works 20 points 8 hours ago

If I didn’t get into so many niche genres of music through piracy in the 00s, I’d not have a vinyl collection worth the same as a lower end luxury car today.

Digital “ownership” is temporary. Piracy is as permanent as the end-user wants it to be. I prefer the latter.

[–] HelloRoot@lemy.lol 17 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

There is no "stealing" when we talk about digital goods, as copying files is virtually free of cost (just a littld bit of electricity).

So if the file gets duplicated and you get the copy you stole nothing.

[–] null@piefed.nullspace.lol 11 points 8 hours ago (6 children)

The mental gymnastics people need to do to feel better about getting something for free against the wishes of the creator is so wild.

Just own it.

[–] Mothra@mander.xyz 18 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

It's not always against the wishes of the creators. It's certainly against the wishes of whoever is making money out of it, and fair enough this is sometimes the creator but more often than not we are talking about a middleman, such as a publisher or big entertainment company.

When I see piracy is depriving the creator of revenue directly, it always feels bad to me.

When I see the creatives have been paid already, or have several income streams (and big ones at that too) and the only ones deprived of profit are the middleman companies.... Well...

[–] db0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Yeah, "the wishes of the creator" don't matter. They don't get to dictate how people use an idea they've shared, no matter how elaborate. If they want to keep it private, then don't share it.

[–] null@piefed.nullspace.lol -1 points 8 hours ago
[–] maddie1312@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 6 hours ago

My favorite is people who use “archival purposes” as an argument for having a dump of some shit like SMB + Duck Hunt cart for NES. That shit isn’t going anywhere man, you just want to play it for free and that’s ok.

[–] nimpnin@sopuli.xyz 7 points 8 hours ago (2 children)

Surely, as in most modern games, the creators exact wishes is that nobody will be able to play it in a few years ...

[–] bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works 5 points 8 hours ago

Well yes of course, we can't have the poor's playing games years after their made!! That loses us shareholder quarterly value!! They must buy a new game yearly. Thats why we make everything online only so we can shut servers down at will, are you new in this industry?

Thats why we are going after emulation next. Can you imagine, poor's with access to millions of games 20-30 years old, with no subscription fees? The horror!!!

[–] Grail@multiverse.soulism.net 6 points 8 hours ago (2 children)

I love Warren Ellis's run of Moon Knight. The art, the writing, the themes, it's so good. It was only after I recommended it on MULTIVERSE that I was informed Warren Ellis is an asshole. He cheated on dozens of women at the same time, giving them career favours in exchange for sex. It was a sexually exploitative relationship that the women were not made aware of in advance.

Good thing I didn't pay for it!

[–] null@piefed.nullspace.lol 1 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

I've always meant to read some Moon Knight, is that a good place to start?

[–] Grail@multiverse.soulism.net 3 points 8 hours ago

Yes, everyone agrees that Ellis's run from 2014 is the best Moon Knight made in the last 45 years. You can find it in the From The Dead book, which you shouldn't pay for because Ellis is a creepo.

[–] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 1 points 7 hours ago

I just assume all creators of things I enjoy will eventually be proven to be sex pests. It makes it much easier to justify piracy morally to myself. (/j)

[–] bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works 2 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Yeah because corpo ai slop bots asked the "wishes of the creator" before they outright stole everything.

Hardddddd eyeroll.

[–] null@piefed.nullspace.lol -3 points 8 hours ago

Did you reply to the wrong person?

[–] burble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 8 hours ago

I miss the golden era of Netflix when they had everything. Now that all the streaming platforms balkanized... Fuck em.

[–] bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works 8 points 8 hours ago

I used to feel kind of bad.

Now? Fuck no. Corpo ai slop bots sucked up everything that's ever been done on the internet and are using it to their own gain. and guess what, creators didnt see a single fucking cent.

So, fuck it. Take it all. Do not pay corpo. Donate to artists you like.

[–] lyralycan@sh.itjust.works 7 points 8 hours ago

Word of mouth does some heavy lifting here I reckon

[–] lemmysmash@beehaw.org 5 points 8 hours ago
[–] quediuspayu@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

Honestly? At two, but I'll keep pirating everything, I can live with it.

I agree with three.

[–] chgxvjh@hexbear.net 1 points 7 hours ago

Piracy is stealing. Stealing isn't fundamentally bad

[–] zeezee@slrpnk.net 1 points 8 hours ago

piracy is stealing and stealing is good