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This may be the case in the short-term. If piracy is left unchecked, the norm eventually becomes 'free', for the work being pirated and a very low percentage of people will pay for it.

A good example of this is larger projects in the OSS community. Large companies don't pay for it, because it's just expected to be free.

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As a counterpoint just take a look at web serials, they usually have hundreds of chapters available for free and the more popular ones are still making 6-7 figures a year through patreon memberships. People are more than willing to pay for something they enjoy even if it's freely available.

Interesting point. But there's one difference.

Software is used by enterprises and by individuals. Books are mostly used by indivuals (yeah, I know your Friendly Corp might have an educational budget for you).

Enterprises are less likely to pay for books (as the whole cost of running the procurement process is prohibitive). But people (like individuals) don't have this limitation.

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