“*Video game piracy is not stealing” is closer to a statement I can get onboard with. A trivial example to disprove the former statement is the classic, seafaring pirate.
But a more salient example would be pirating music. If you have a pirated copy of an album such that you don’t need to buy another and don’t stream it from any official sources, you are materially and negatively impacting that artist.
Edit: it came to mind after I posted you might hold the position “I haven’t taken anything from them and I wouldn’t have bought it regardless of my pirating, so I haven’t deprived them of anything.” A position I’ve seen a number of times and fundamentally disagree with. Not trying to be rude but I’m not going to engage with that particular thought experiment.
We need to signal boost this, if true, because that is an egregious waste of someone’s time and a theft of their due compensation.