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Originally Posted by ProfCrash
No, it has both of those components. When you pirate a book, you deprive the author of the money that he/she deserves. ie, the money that the author has a right to own.
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That might well be, but it's still copyright infringement and not theft, I am afraid. Theft requires a tangible object to be stolen, the chief difference being that the original owner no longer has it. That's not the case with intangible goods, as we know, which is why the law treats the case differently. (Oh, and according to the law books "piracy" is an act of violence committed on the high seas, but that ship has probably sailed.)
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Just because people think it is prettier to say piracy is not theft because you are not taking a physical book, you are still taking money from the author.
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"Prettier"? Try more correct.
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You are depriving the author of something that he/she has a right to.
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Just because you said it three times: Not necessarily so. There's hundreds of people who have no intention to buy what they download, or simply couldn't afford it. If somebody downloads "the best 5000 ebooks of all time", does he really deprive all authors of their full share of the retail price? If some college kid that really doesn't need (much less can afford) a copy of the latest "Photoshop" downloads a cracked trial version, does that really deprive Adobe of a sale? If all those people had behaved legally and morally, what would authors have gained? Why, nothing. So what have they lost? Exactly, nothing.
Whoever fails to see a difference between theft in the common sense, i.e. the taking-away of tangible property in such a way that the original owner no longer has it, and unauthorized copying / copyright infringement either has a hidden agenda, or simply lacks the required intelligence for a meaningful discussion on the subject.