[checkyoursudo]

There is an artist's gallery in my town. The artist sells lots of pieces (or tries to; no idea how successful). If I go and look at each piece, really take it in and absorb it fully and internalize it, but buy nothing, have I done the thing that's not exactly like stealing?

If I download a PDF and read it and then delete it as soon as I am done, have I done the thing that is not exactly like stealing?

If I go to a library and read that same book in its entirety without checking it out ... doesn't seem much different than reading and then deleting a PDF.

Stealing someone else's book definitely seems wrong, but reading it while you are visiting their house seems fine?

I am not claiming to know the right (ethical, moral, whatever) action here. I just have a super huge problem calling it "piracy" or "stealing" or whatever. Figuring out a way to support creators is hugely important, but criminalizing the mere viewing or hearing of art/music/words/etc seems extremely wrong.

Anyway, I've been thinking about all this since at least Napster and I still have no idea really.

[acdha]

My perspective: go with what the person who created it agreed to. They’ve set their life up around certain assumptions, and if I don’t like them I will forgo their work.

For example, that person whose works are in the gallery has built their business on a balance of exposure - letting anyone who walks in look at things - and the fact that people who buy art are willing to pay a fair amount to own a physical object for display. Looking without buying is expressly part of their business model.

Book publishing is different, with the author assuming they’ll get payments from readers - much smaller than that artists but many of them. Since I don’t have any ownership rights over their work, I don’t attempt to change the terms.

[curtisblaine]

There is an artist's gallery in your town. The artist charges $10 on entry to see the pieces, that's how he/she makes a living. You enter from a backdoor that someone left open to avoid paying, and you additionally help anyone who wants to enter for free by showing them the backdoor. You know that what you're doing is illegal, but you don't care because the building where the gallery is hosted doesn't have anyone to check the backdoor at night, so you're extremely unlikely to get caught. It's not exactly stealing, but it's still a) illegal b) selfish c) damaging to the artist