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> There is no nuanced discussion about this. Theft and stealing are legal terms

I think you missed OP's point; those calling copyright infingement "theft" (or "stealing") are being disingeneous to try and gain support for their argument - they're conflating legal terms about ownership with the idea of copyright infringement and they are not the same as theft/stealing include the concept of depriving the owner the use of whatever it is that was stolen.

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Copyright infringement is not an idea, it's a law. There is nothing disingenuous about this, it's the legal reality in most countries. But, to be fair, there is a nuanced discussion on the topic of whether something is copyright infringement or original work with some inspiration or quoting of another work. But I didn't get the impression this is what's talked about here?

I (and OP if they'll forgive me speaking for them) are aware of that - but when you start to call copyright infingement "theft" you are combining two different legal issues.

And whilst IANAL, my understanding is that copyright infringement is a civil issue, whereas theft is a criminal one - they're trying to move the burden of the courts onto the taxpayer

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