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Originally Posted by HarryT
The term "piracy" to refer to something that's unauthorised goes back a long time, at least 50-odd years to the days of "pirate radio stations" in the late 1950s. Did you have those in the US? Here in Europe, they were ships which anchored in international waters, and broadcast pop music, without getting permission from the countries to which they were broadcasting to use the radio frequencies in that way. Hence the "nautical connection".
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Seeing as I had the dictionary open
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Originally Posted by OED
One who appropriates or reproduces without leave, for his own benefit, a literary, artistic, or musical composition, or an idea or invention of another, or, more generally, anything that he has no right to; esp. one who infringes on the copyright of another.
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But the earliest reference surprised me:
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Originally Posted by OED
1668 J. Hancock Brooks' String of Pearls (Notice at end), Some dishonest Booksellers, called Land-Pirats, who make it their practise to steal Impressions of other mens Copies.
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