Ok, I'd like to call you on that and provide actual numbers. I found this: Before the invention of printing, the number of manuscript books in Europe could be

Ok, I'd like to call you on that and provide actual numbers. I found this: Before the invention of printing, the number of manuscript books in Europe could be counted in thousands. By 1500, after only 50 years of printing, there were more than 9,000,000 books. https://www.britannica.com/topic/publishing/The-medieval-book https://www.britannica.com/topic/publishing/The-medieval-boo... Which illustrates what the difference in scale I'm talking about. > why should the artists’ desire for compensation outweigh the desire of audiences to consume the media for free Because if you disincentivize the artist there are no media to consume. Why should your desire to consume for free deprive me from consuming at all if there is no artist willing to accept such conditions ?