Um, bytes can be copied for free. I think his point was that if there was no restriction on the distribution of existing content, then it would quickly be made

Um, bytes can be copied for free. I think his point was that if there was no restriction on the distribution of existing content, then it would quickly be made freely available by those who purchase or otherwise acquire it from the producers, cutting off their revenue (think of onlyfans leaks, except in this case because the production was criminal, there would likely be no legal avenue for the producer to have the free redistributions taken down).