The word has a surprisingly long history. > piracy > 2. fig. The appropriation and reproduction of an invention or work of another for one's own profit, witho

The word has a surprisingly long history. > piracy > 2. fig. The appropriation and reproduction of an invention or work of another for one's own profit, without authority; infringement of the rights conferred by a patent or copyright. > 1771: Luckombe Hist. Print. 76 “They..would suffer by this act of piracy, since it was likely to prove a very bad edition.” > 1808: Med. Jrnl. XIX. 520 “He is charged with `Literary Piracy', and an `unprincipled suppression of the source from whence he drew his information'.” > 1855: Brewster Newton I. iv. 71 “With the view of securing his invention of the telescope from foreign piracy.”