Keep in mind that part of owning copyright to something (actually, the main part) is having exclusive control over copying / distribution. Having exclusive con

Keep in mind that part of owning copyright to something (actually, the main part) is having exclusive control over copying / distribution. Having exclusive control is a property of copyright, if you will. So making the unauthorized copy is permanently depriving the copyright holder of that exclusive control. Another way of looking at it: Lets say you were a collector of widgets. And Acme Widget Co. markets a given widget, which they say only 100 instances of it are ever made or are going to be made. So you purchase that widget because you know it will be worth a premium to other widget collectors, due to its rarity. Now, assume that after you fork over big money for a 1-in-100 widget, Acme then decides to make a million of them, selling for a fraction of the original price. Now your specific widget, which you still own, is worth much less. Wouldn't you want to sue to get your purchase price back, since they sold it to you under false pretences?