Piracy is illegal, but is it immoral?

[ShadowStarX]

Copyright laws and their enforcement are one of the most controversial topics to talk about in today's world.
The two extremes are probably saying that piracy is not bad at all or even straight up good, with its opposite being when you count every single instance of downloading something for free without authorization and calculate the profit losses as such. (basically if let's say there is a 50-dollar game and there are a total of 2 million illegal downloads -> many companies calculate this is a loss of 100 million dollars.
However, there are many factors which could lead somebody to pirate a piece of software:

• it might not be legally available in their country or region (not banned, just not made available, like let's say a handful of older Fire Emblem games for Europe)
• The person might not be able to afford the product due to having other expenses with a higher priority
• Due to the sheer amount of false marketing and free trials still not being all that widespread, one might want to buy the game only after experiencing a piece of it
• The creator might have done something that prompts one not to support them (e.g. the show 'Cuties' on Netflix being outrageously harmful or Nintendo aggressively abusing C&D)
• The piece of software may just be so old and obscure that it wasn't properly preserved (not many games could survive like Super Mario World or Ocarina of Time)

It's also important to note how subscription services have proliferated and many times you literally buy something, if you do so at all, you do it for like 2 shows. That way instead of a quick 'n convient $10 you may have to pay a whoppin' $100 each month.

I can also not ignore the fact that copyright laws fail to protect indie creators and only the big fish are favored, such as Disney or Nintendo. (the laws are literally built around the former company)

So how should copyright laws be changed, if at all?

[aero]

This is what I go by: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/words-to ... tml#Piracy

Unauthorized sharing shouldn't be illegal and is definitely not immoral. I think using the DMCA to silence people and interfere with journalism is a much more pressing issue when it comes to copyright and morality. It's one of the most prevalent methods of censorship, and far more effort goes into protecting copyrighted material than say abusive material for example. Not to mention the absurdities copyright law brings to education and other materials that are a public good. Moving towards copyleft and bringing so-called IP into the public domain is how it should be dealt with in my opinion.

[ShadowStarX]

This is what I go by: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/words-to ... tml#Piracy

Unauthorized sharing shouldn't be illegal and is definitely not immoral. I think using the DMCA to silence people and interfere with journalism is a much more pressing issue when it comes to copyright and morality. It's one of the most prevalent methods of censorship, and far more effort goes into protecting copyrighted material than say abusive material for example. Not to mention the absurdities copyright law brings to education and other materials that are a public good. Moving towards copyleft and bringing so-called IP into the public domain is how it should be dealt with in my opinion.

Indeed.
Many people are outraged about the usage of Cemu and Yuzu to play Nintendo games for free, however the Netflix movie 'Cuties' for instance is still up and running.

[Uranus]

Piracy is only good for games that game out on the previous gen and before that don't have an online store that is up, plays crap on the current consoles that are hardware issues or are not locally translate. Sure you CAN. but it's better to support the offical release or wait till the shops shut down so the emulation scene rises.

Preservation is very much needed in todays world, sadly Nintendo doesn't see that and rather have the games in limbo.

[Cedur]

There are several degrees and ways of piracy and it's an unsharp terminology to begin with

[ElTipsta]

it's essential in the modern world as an option as corporations don't care about game prevervation or making their games accessible and affordable to the whole world. for people in the global south, often piracy is the only way they can play anything at all. steam regional pricing is one good thing that helps some people afford games, but for others, even that's too high.

plus game collectors have made physical game collecting unaffordable to a lot of people especially older games (even in western countries). hence if no digital version is available, many people will see that as a green light to pirate. cause one way or the other, the developers are not gonna see money via piracy or buying from a reseller.

[MarioFan171]

In the 10 Commandments of the Bible, There's one that says "Do not Steal". Piracy is stealling one's intellectual property and it's immoral.

[Sonya Sanchez]

In the 10 Commandments of the Bible, There's one that says "Do not Steal". Piracy is stealling one's intellectual property and it's immoral.

Let's avoid making this Topic about Bible or any Religious stuff since it only ends up in another Flamewar as seen in the past here!

Also I find Piracy for certain games totally okay, because why would I want to pay for a over 20 year old game another 60 Bucks when it's the same Like before and I can practically just emulate it!