[pravus]

> Why would an IP rights-holder believe you?

Because in addition to all the filthy pirated booty I stole, I would also show them this:

    * My 350+ physical CD collection
    * My 200+ physical DVD/Blu-Ray
    * My entire merch collection for Nine Inch Nails (>$1000)
    * My entire merch collection for Rings of Saturn (>$1000)
    * My merch collection from many, many, many other bands
    * Pages of receipts from Bandcamp and other e-media distributors
    * Pages of receipts from direct payments to artists themselves
    * The mass of ticket stubs I've acquired from live shows
    * The mass of movie ticket stubs I've acquired from theaters

I'm never paying for entertainment again. I paid my dues and the industry has done nothing but fuck me and everyone else.

Fuck them. It's over.

Have fun paying to sing "Happy Birthday".

[bigstrat2003]

I think it's perfectly reasonable to refuse to do business with the media companies who are, indeed, evil and dishonest in how they do business. By all means, never give them another dime.

But you also don't have the right to decide "but I still want to consume the content that comes out in the future" and take it without paying. Doing that is no better, morally, than this shit which Sony is pulling. It's taking something which doesn't belong to you. If one does that, then their ideals are hollow and they really were just rationalizing their own selfish behavior. I'm not accusing you specifically of that, but it is depressingly common.

[tacticalturtle]

Fortunately at least “Happy Birthday” is in the public domain as of 2016.