[giantrobot]

If I watch a movie at a friend's house, do I have to somehow compensate the studio for the privilege? Did I rob those poor artists of residuals every time I rented a DVD from Netflix and Blockbuster before it? They after all rented me a physical artifact under the first sale doctrine. They didn't have to pay the studios anything for rentals. Their compensation to the studios ended at their original purchase of the DVD.

If renting DVDs or watching a movie at a friend's house doesn't magically rob artists of residuals, then neither does piracy. In each case I am not purchasing a movie yet I am able to watch it.