Originally Posted by snooggums

Mixing the terminology is the problem. Infringement is distributing without permissions, including making your own copy if necessary. Only distributing to others using fraud is criminal, otherwise it is civil infringement and there are many forms:

* Downloading and seeding an Ubuntu torrent with authorization of the copyright holders - non-infringing gaining and sharing of someone else's work for free.
* Downloading a cracked version of the game to avoid DRM that came with your purchased copy through a torrent that allows uploads to those that might download to avoid paying - infringement even for bypassing DRM
* Installing a game on more than one computer in your own home at the same time against the EULA even if you only play one at a time - copyright infringement
* Burning a copy of the game DVD for a friend who has a legit key but their disc was scratched so they can install and patch with their license key and not borrow your disc - infringement

How many of these things are depriving the copyright holder of possible income other than to replace a damaged disc which should not matter since the license key is what validates their ownership? I only see one even close to 'stealing' and it is actually sharing to obtain the way to bypass the DRM that hinders the purchaser's ability to play a game. Infringing has many conditions that make infringement morality subjective.

In short: one didn't go out and steal a legit key/license. The DRM has been likely circumvented/bypassed, but that "copy" doesn't even have a valid license to begin with.

You made a copy. Perhaps when and if you distribute that said copy, then it is just a infringment (or perhaps you already infringed when you made another copy for yourself?).

On the other hand, if the original copier who made a copy of the copy stole the original copy and "resold" it, then it would be stealing (and eventually profiting). **

** The retail games you buy in the store (or even digitally) are copies. So when someone decides to torrent a game, they are downloading a copy of a copy.