Inevitably in the world of video games, the topic of piracy pops up. You’ll hear questions such as “Is piracy a sin?” and “Is piracy the same thing as theft?” These often provoke responses: “If buying isn’t owning, pirating isn’t stealing!” or “It’s from a huge corporation, they have plenty of money!”
While the Catholic Church has not issued a direct teaching about piracy itself, this does not mean there isn’t an answer. Perhaps the Church will issue a direct statement one day, but in the meantime, we are called to use our gifts of reason, prudence, and the teachings of the Church to discern. Today we will do just that by looking at the question “Is there any reason why piracy would be evil?” in light of the Church’s knowledge. To do that, we must first lay out some clear definitions.
What is theft?
Theft is defined in the Catechism as “usurping another’s property against the reasonable will of the owner.” (CCC 2408). This action is considered a violation of the 7th commandment, thou shall not steal. The benefits of following this commandment are mentioned in CCC 2401: “It (the 7th commandment) commands justice and charity in the care of earthly goods and the fruits of men’s labor. For the sake of the common good, it requires respect for the universal destination of goods and respect for the right to private property.”
It is important to note the choice of the word “usurp” here. It is used both for the seizing of others’ goods but also the use of others’ property without right.
Is theft ever moral?
The Catechism does not say that theft is ever moral. Instead, it outlines situations in which using other’s goods IS NOT theft.
There is no theft if consent can be presumed or if refusal is contrary to reason and the universal destination of goods. This is the case in obvious and urgent necessity when the only way to provide for immediate, essential needs (food, shelter, clothing . . .) is to put at one’s disposal and use the property of others (CCC 2408).
So, theft is never moral, but it utilizing others’ goods without their permission may be permitted if their consent to your use can be presumed (for example, getting a glass of water from my friends’ fridge – I know he wouldn’t mind) or if refusal is contrary to reason and the universal destination of goods (such as a person who is starving and needs to get some food).
An example of the inappropriate use of another’s goods might be taking your neighbor’s car out for a spin without their direct or implied consent before returning it. By this definition, such an act would be considered theft.
This brings us to the point: if piracy of digital goods is a version of theft, then it is immoral.
Piracy and theft are legally distinct
You may often encounter people telling you piracy is different from theft. We are not lawyers or legal experts, so we are not here to debate the law. But, it is worth noting that piracy is legally distinct from theft, at least in the United States, and that is probably where the argument comes from. Typically you will see it defined as theft is taking something from someone, and denying them use of the item whereas piracy is making a copy of something, therefore not depriving the original party of use of their item, as it has not been taken, but rather duplicated. This falls under copyright infringement, which is a different kind of crime.
However, it doesn’t really matter much to our argument how the U.S. Government legally defines piracy if it still falls under the Church’s definition of theft for obvious reasons. We are beholden to the teachings of the Church, no matter where we live. And besides, the U.S. Government (as well as most other governments) considers piracy to be a crime anyways. So even if the government was your only moral authority, you would not be permitted to pirate digital goods.
Is piracy a version of theft according to the Church?
What better person to answer this question than a priest who loves video games? This is what our good staff member Fr. Stephen had to say:
“When it comes to pirated software, the Church sees it as denying the laborer his wage. Since a lot of work went into creating the software, that labor deserves just recompense, as Jesus said (Lk 10:7, Mt 10:10) and St. Paul reiterated. (1 Tim 5:18) [CCC 2408] defines theft as “usurping another’s property against the reasonable will of the owner,” so what is the will of the owner of this intellectual property? Microsoft still sells Windows 10, so one can reasonably assume that they still intend to make money off of the hard work they put into the software. That makes piracy of Windows 10 a form of theft.”
The example Father gave here was the act of pirating Windows 10. Microsoft is the owner of the software, and does not offer it to the public for free. It is therefore unreasonable to assume they are okay with people using it without a paid license. Furthermore, if it wasn’t obvious enough, their refusal to offer it for free is not contrary to reason and the universal destination of goods. A Windows license is not an immediate, essential need, and Microsoft spends millions, if not billions on the continual development and maintenance of Windows. They have to make that money back.
Are video games/movies/shows an immediate, essential need?
Captain Obvious would like a word with you.
But what if I cannot buy the item?
Certain software or media availability is often brought up in discussions about piracy. Sometimes, the anime, video game, or movie you want to watch cannot be purchased in your country at the present time, so the only way to consume it is to pirate it.
Now yes, it sucks when the media you want to access is unavailable. But as you already know, software, especially video games, are rarely if ever an essential need. And sticking to Fr. Stephen’s assertion, if you cannot reasonably assume that the owner of the digital content would permit your piracy, then it is still considered theft and is therefore immoral. And if you’ve spent any amount of time on the internet, you know that it is very unusual for creators to permit piracy of their software or content. If they want it to be available for free, they will usually go ahead and offer free downloads with an appropriate open license.
Yet many people continue to resist even after this point. Often they bring up gripes about how the owners of the digital content are “refusing to sell” to them and that there should always be a way to purchase their software or media. But the fact of the matter is, no company or person is under an obligation to continually provide to you every piece of content they’ve ever produced. It sure does sting when those old digital distribution services go down (we miss the 3DS & Wii U eShops) but at the end of the day it’s up to the producers of the content to decide when they want to sell their content to you.
It’s fine to lobby for improved distribution services (such as GOG.com, which sells games that work without a launcher/DRM) and to express the benefits that come with adopting such solutions. You can also selectively purchase games that are easier to preserve (check out the big list of DRM-free Steam games).
In these cases, it is important to remember there is another option, and that is to deny yourself. There are always things in this life that we want but cannot obtain. The solution to this is not committing theft to satisfy your desires, but to instead accept that we do not always get what we want. Relaxation and entertainment are all well and good, but that specific piece of media is not a necessity for you to consume. This does not sound fun, or fair, but that is life. We want to align ourselves to God, and often that means we must set aside our worldly wants and pleasures to focus on what God wants instead of ourselves.
What if I was never going to purchase it anyway?
You’re still using the property against the reasonable will of the owner. Plus, you don’t know if you’d change your mind in the future. People often use this “excuse” as a way to try and justify their actions, and they feel the need to justify it because they know it is wrong.
What if the company that made the content does evil things?
Have you ever tried, uh, not consuming their content or using their software? Or looking for alternatives? Even if you don’t try or are unable to do those things, people who do evil (aka: all of us) still deserve to be paid for just labor.
What about the use of emulators?
Emulators are simply pieces of software that mimic certain types of (usually outdated) hardware, allowing users to run old software on modern systems. For example, Nintendo currently provides NES, SNES, N64, GB and GBA emulators via their Nintendo Switch Online service, allowing subscribers to play old games on Nintendo Switch.
The controversy surrounding emulation is usually in regards to emulators that are made by third-parties, which are often used for piracy. That use would obviously be immoral; however, there are also certain groups of people who use them to play games they actually own (by ripping game files off cartridges or discs and copying them to their PC).
Unfortunately, doing this usually means you are circumventing DRM (Digital Rights Management), which is outlawed for the U.S. in most circumstances under The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. Because of this, we generally advise people to stay away from using unofficial emulators.
I still disagree!
After reading all of this, you may still disagree with us. If that is the case, we recommend that you prayerfully reflect on this topic and ask God for guidance – there’s never any harm in that.
But we are sticking to our guns here. Piracy is sinful. Christ says to us in John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” It is not loving our fellow man to take their work, their art, their creation and use it for our pleasure without giving them the rightful payment they ask for. We cannot say we love our neighbor, while also taking advantage of them.
