I would happily download a car: zero cost reproduction of useful things makes society as a whole richer. The content industry needs to figure out a new business model to adapt to the information age, and the longer people pay for digital content the more funds these outdated relics will have for legislating a moat around their "property". I'd much prefer a kickstarter or patreon-like model where superfans could fund and watch and participate in development.
You're correct, but it's worse than theft. When you steal a car, just that car is stolen. Piracy devalues the original product...something theft can't really ever do.
"I would happily download a car: zero cost reproduction of useful things makes society as a whole richer."
But how much did it cost to produce the first car? and do you actually think anyone would put that much time and effort into the first car if they didn't a way to make a profit or at least their money back? In your world, technology will only go so far..which is a disservice to humanity.
"The content industry needs to figure out a new business model to adapt to the information age"
They have: streaming services. Your mentality is why we will only have services that we pay for in the future and won't be able to install software or get a Blue ray.
"I'd much prefer a kickstarter or patreon-like model where superfans could fund and watch and participate in development."
Which wouldn't even get close to the amount of money needed to develop this kind of content.
You aren't being rebellious. You are just giving excuses as to why you would rather just download something for free instead of paying for it.
I remember in the 90s the excuse du jour for music piracy was that it would help independent artists. It's only made it so most independent artists can't really make a living anymore and pushed everything to large corporations.
Disney's business model has been destroying the potential of thousands of great artists who failed to reach cultural relevancy because their parents were barely making ends meet and couldn't afford to buy in, and the cultural language is now locked behind a gate with a toll (if it can be licensed at all).
Why are the greedy profit motivations of a giant multinational corporation more important to you than poor children's cultural participation? You aren't being a rational realist, you are just being selfish and classist.
Disney built their business on the back of the public domain. Every single great movie they made builds off the work of others. Now they are trying to silo these once-free properties behind IP laws to shut the door behind themselves.
Can you name single great work of art created by Disney that isn't mostly derivative? Reflect on why you can't: they are monetizers of existing culture, not creators of originality.
You sort of have a point, since this is Disney we're considering, but this is a slippery slope.
Most _everything_ is derivative work.
Should I pirate all commercial software that's powered by open source software?
Should I never pay for a modern book with a hero's journey storyline simply because it's not original?
And I shouldn't pay artists for their covers or remixes of other songs? So unoriginal.
And why should I buy tickets to any new Batman movie? Batman's part of our culture and the story is probably taken from the comics.
And I should never profit from my business unless it's MY original idea.
If you dislike Disney (for good reason), then boycott them. But that doesn't give you the _right_ to pirate their content nor should you encourage others to pirate.
There are plenty of options, like going to your public library, that don't involve copyright infringement.
How are poor children able to download a movie illegally from the Internet, yet can't don't have any money to purchase it legally?
"Why are the greedy profit motivations of a giant multinational corporation more important to you than poor children's cultural participation? You aren't being a rational realist, you are just being selfish and classist."
You could say the same thing about anything: you are depriving a poor family a home if they can't move into yours without paying you, you greedy classist!
"Disney built their business on the back of the public domain. Every single great movie they made builds off the work of others."
Yet, the public domain movie wasn't nearly as popular nor do we even remember them. This means they added value. You also failed to mention all of the jobs Disney provides. Should all of these people be deprived a living (and possibly lose their homes?
"Can you name single great work of art created by Disney that isn't mostly derivative? Reflect on why you can't: they are monetizers of existing culture, not creators of originality."
Can you name the original works? If not, they probably weren't that good.
Much of culture is private.
Poor people not participating in Disney content doesn't take into account the content on public tv or libruaries that will loan dvds either. The price of a month of Disney+ will make things cheaper as well.
Independent music was more popular in the early 2000s when piracy was high. You share music for it to be successful. With streaming independent music gets lost and crowded out if it exists on the platform.
The idea that piracy isn't stealing is nonsense. Why don't you try creating something, then having someone rip it off against your will, plaster it all over their ad-supported platform and flip you the bird when you ask for a share of proceeds.
I like that as a minimally-coercive incentive: everyone gets access, but you can pay to access it a week sooner. This is the most common model used by Youtubers AFAICT.
I have had my content "stolen". Someone in China likely made more off the game I wrote than I did: good for them, I would have never been able to reach that market. I was focused on making a quality web-game and they iframed it with ads. Didn't hurt me a bit - even helped a bit because I continued getting analytics from these new users. My inability to create a self-perpetuating monetization strategy for my game does not mean that I'm owed anything: if people donated more I would have worked on it longer, but they didn't so I didn't. Fond memories for everyone involved.
I view the idea that "nobody should be able to make money from the fruits of my labor" rooted in pettiness and insecurity. If you can consistently create good things at a good pace, people will support you. I didn't meet that bar, got a 'real' job, and that's fine.
The idea that a single work of creation should be able to support someone for years (or even the rest of their lives) is a fantasy that only entered the public zeitgeist in the past few decades: I suspect largely as the result of IP trolls like Disney, MPAA and RIAA.
That game was put on torrent sites and people started to write about it and the game became a success.
Piracy can turn a great product that no one knows about into a success.
Most pirates are trying content they would not be willing to buy, which expands the market for most content (provided that content hasn't already been carpetbombed via ads across many media channels so most people already know about it).
If your argument is that both theft and piracy make the "owner" of the "property" feel bad, then I don't think that really proves they're the same thing. Neither does the fact that in both cases, someone who did not create the product is profiting from it; it's not a zero-sum game, their profit isn't equal to your loss.
If you take the thing they want to legally charge for then that is theft.
And if what you want is a new model in a brave New world then one must take the effort. Be the change you want to see. Not by simply stealing from those you disagree with, philosophically, but by disregarding them completely. And then rewarding those that also participate in your same perspective.
It's hard. But I can't justify theft just caused they're assholes. Eventually everyone's the asshole.
