> The original owner no longer possesses the commercial value of the thing. The pirate hasn't gained any commercial value though. I'm pretty sure that "stealin

> The original owner no longer possesses the commercial value of the thing. The pirate hasn't gained any commercial value though. I'm pretty sure that "stealing" involves a valuable thing getting transferred from one person to another. Operative word being transfer. Everything the copyright holder had to start with is either retained by them or not possessed by the infringer. So it can't be (and isn't) theft.