Why is it morally wrong to steal intangible objects?

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For example, copying artwork from online, downloading music or movies, and so on. Basically, anything that you can copy without removing the original.

piracy

ethics

media

understand

tynamite

Stealing intangible (virtual) objects is wrong, because by stealing the virtual product, you're taking away more than the product itself. You're taking away the return on investment that the creator would have had if you had brought it.

Talking about the music industry, when you illegally download music, you are not stealing from the artists that you're downloading. They've already made it in the music industry. What you're instead doing, is that you're stealing from the future artists who would have been signed to the record label, had you decided to buy music instead. When you buy music, you're paying money to the record label to invest in future acts.

"There are exceptions, most notably film, whose production costs are so high that the studios have a way to go yet before they become redundant, if they ever do."

You really have absolutely no idea how much records cost to make, do you? To record, package (even digital ones need artwork), promote, distribute, market ... to make people aware that it exists, to fund tours, to design and manufacture merchandise, to provide living expenses for acts who need to quit their jobs to tour.

Tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands ... for a high profile pop act, even millions.

Of 20,000 albums released last year, less than 2,000 of them sold more than 1,000 copies, and without sales, there is no budget to make the next one. Radiohead and NIN only get to experiment with new distribution models because they already made their millions, have the profile and the contacts to make it happen.

Welcome to your post-label music industry. Good luck finding anything decent to listen to.