[lukan]

But actual piracy has always been about stealing, so maybe it was not a smart move to label the movement after thieves and murderers, while insisting it is not about theft.

Because yes, it is copying. Nothing gets taken away. But when a pirate took a ship and it's gold away, it was gone.

[tshaddox]

The analogy being made from piracy to copyright infringement is more about living entirely outside the rule of law and less about the obvious fact that stealing is one of the main things that pirates do. The analogy was first made in reference to unauthorized book publishers, which is pretty close to modern usage (although it used to refer only to the producers of the unauthorized copies, not the consumers). But there's also things like "pirate radio" (unauthorized broadcasts, not necessarily of copyrighted material, and not even necessarily illegal at the source of the broadcast) and "pirate taxis" (simply unlicensed taxi services)

[lukan]

And "pirate camps".