It's a particular feature of US Copyright law. Usually you have to prove damages in civil cases, for most copyright infringement that is effectively nothing (1

It's a particular feature of US Copyright law. Usually you have to prove damages in civil cases, for most copyright infringement that is effectively nothing (1 copy of the game). In the US, it's $150k per infringement defined by statute. That's why there is not very much enforcement outside of the US, except for large distributors like torrent sites. They don't go after individuals in countries like Australia or NZ because the damages are small. In the US however they can threaten you with taking you to court and having to pay 150k in order to settle outside of court. Reference: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/504 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/504