I don't know if the Supreme Courts may have changed it's stance on the subject since, but to me the following text is quite clear : it doesn't consider theft and copyright infringement as equal.
U.S. Supreme Court
DOWLING v. UNITED STATES, 473 U.S. 207 (1985)
Quote:
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Since the statutorily defined property rights of a copyright holder have a character distinct from the possessory interest of the owner of simple "goods, wares, [or] merchandise," interference with copyright does not easily equate with theft, conversion, or fraud. The infringer of a copyright does not assume physical control over the copyright nor wholly deprive its owner of its use. Infringement implicates a more complex set of property interests than does run-of-the-mill theft, conversion, or fraud. Pp. 214-218.
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