This is something I don’t see enough people bring up. It’s one thing to download the newest album from [independent band] for free when they’re selling a DRM-free version of it on their website for $5. It’s another thing to download an obscure 20+ year old anime that’s had its distribution rights passed to seven different companies since its release. Someone from Madhouse can correct me if I’m wrong, but I cannot believe that using my friend’s Crunchyroll account to watch the Japanese dub of Boogiepop Phantom instead of illegally streaming the English dub from a sketchy website would earn any of the original creators any money at all. Even if I paid for my own CR subscription, it would only provide Crunchyroll with money. No matter how I consume this anime, the folks who made the show aren’t getting compensated. So why should I pay for an inferior service?
It’s always ethical to pirate when an intellectual property is owned by someone other than the creator.
This is something I don’t see enough people bring up. It’s one thing to download the newest album from [independent band] for free when they’re selling a DRM-free version of it on their website for $5. It’s another thing to download an obscure 20+ year old anime that’s had its distribution rights passed to seven different companies since its release. Someone from Madhouse can correct me if I’m wrong, but I cannot believe that using my friend’s Crunchyroll account to watch the Japanese dub of Boogiepop Phantom instead of illegally streaming the English dub from a sketchy website would earn any of the original creators any money at all. Even if I paid for my own CR subscription, it would only provide Crunchyroll with money. No matter how I consume this anime, the folks who made the show aren’t getting compensated. So why should I pay for an inferior service?