The problem with your argument is you assume publishers are contributing nothing to the process, that they have nothing to risk in the whole endeavor of creating a video game. While I don't disagree with your example for Metal Arms, a game that is highly unlikely to be re-released in any case, I think it's still stealing to pirate that game.
Publishers who back games take gambles, expensive ones. The creators of those games sold the rights to their games for the opportunity to possibly make big bucks, also a gamble. They don't necessarily have the money to lobby Nintendo/Sony/Microsoft to make sure theirs games are licensed and produced for the consoles. They likely don't have the money to advertise the game, to publish it, to create the box art, to go to E3 and get noticed by thousands of gamers. They rely on the publisher to do this. The publisher has no idea they'll make their money back. I'm sure their are plenty of games that are net losses for companies like EA. Not every game is going to net EA huge profit margins. Some will undoubtedly be Too Human.
The reason I think it is still stealing to pirate a game like Metal Arms, is because the publisher that rightfully paid the creator for the rights to that game entered a contract saying, "I promise to give you money now, on the hopes that I can make a profit off of this thing in the future."
I don't know if the publisher made all their money back on that game. But it doesn't really matter. They have purchased the right to make as much money as they want to. If you invest in something, that's how it works. If we arbitrarily decide which contracts are right, and which are wrong, we are putting ourselves in the role of the judiciary. This, in my opinion, is the biggest problem with PIPA and SOPA. They bypass judicial review and become a law unto themselves. We are no different than them if we decided to take on the role of deciding who deserves money for their products, and who doesn't. We are no different than them if we say piracy is okay, because some corporations have too much money and don't really deserve anymore.
Let the courts decide which contracts should be looked at. If you don't like copyright law, then start a lobbying group to change it. Don't sink to the level of the corporations you despise. I know it sounds cliche, but really, you are playing into the corporations' hands. All they need to do now is say, "See? These lowlifes aren't interested in paying, just like we told you."
After all, if we start to tear apart the legal world of contracts, what's to stop your employer from saying, "I don't need to pay you this week. I think you have enough money. You are spending it all on video games anyway."
Let me be absolutely clear, I do not support SOPA or PIPA, but I do not, and never will, support piracy either. Even if fat cat EA Execs don't really get hurt from it, you do give them an excuse to make shitty laws like SOPA by doing it, and you also give them an excuse to hurt the paychecks of their employees. They don't need anymore excuses to fuck us over. The public at large is easily fooled by their rhetoric. Don't give them examples to feed into their lies.
Publishers who back games take gambles, expensive ones. The creators of those games sold the rights to their games for the opportunity to possibly make big bucks, also a gamble. They don't necessarily have the money to lobby Nintendo/Sony/Microsoft to make sure theirs games are licensed and produced for the consoles. They likely don't have the money to advertise the game, to publish it, to create the box art, to go to E3 and get noticed by thousands of gamers. They rely on the publisher to do this. The publisher has no idea they'll make their money back. I'm sure their are plenty of games that are net losses for companies like EA. Not every game is going to net EA huge profit margins. Some will undoubtedly be Too Human.
The reason I think it is still stealing to pirate a game like Metal Arms, is because the publisher that rightfully paid the creator for the rights to that game entered a contract saying, "I promise to give you money now, on the hopes that I can make a profit off of this thing in the future."
I don't know if the publisher made all their money back on that game. But it doesn't really matter. They have purchased the right to make as much money as they want to. If you invest in something, that's how it works. If we arbitrarily decide which contracts are right, and which are wrong, we are putting ourselves in the role of the judiciary. This, in my opinion, is the biggest problem with PIPA and SOPA. They bypass judicial review and become a law unto themselves. We are no different than them if we decided to take on the role of deciding who deserves money for their products, and who doesn't. We are no different than them if we say piracy is okay, because some corporations have too much money and don't really deserve anymore.
Let the courts decide which contracts should be looked at. If you don't like copyright law, then start a lobbying group to change it. Don't sink to the level of the corporations you despise. I know it sounds cliche, but really, you are playing into the corporations' hands. All they need to do now is say, "See? These lowlifes aren't interested in paying, just like we told you."
After all, if we start to tear apart the legal world of contracts, what's to stop your employer from saying, "I don't need to pay you this week. I think you have enough money. You are spending it all on video games anyway."
Let me be absolutely clear, I do not support SOPA or PIPA, but I do not, and never will, support piracy either. Even if fat cat EA Execs don't really get hurt from it, you do give them an excuse to make shitty laws like SOPA by doing it, and you also give them an excuse to hurt the paychecks of their employees. They don't need anymore excuses to fuck us over. The public at large is easily fooled by their rhetoric. Don't give them examples to feed into their lies.