Among younger people I know (under 35), piracy is extremely common, and Netflix/Spotify/Steam is also extremely common (although the Netflix accounts are often shared with a relative or friend). They aren't really mutually exclusive.

That's a completely different game. Academic publisher have little value add. They essentially steal and make money of the work of scientist while the scientist themselves have to pay them. This is not comparable to piracy in the consumer sense.

I'm not assigning any moral weight to them; just observing the basic facts as they result to publishing.

It's not about anything moral. It's about a qualitative difference between. The second one should even be called piracy.

Whats the qualitative difference?

> The second one should even be called piracy.

Sure, I agree. Piracy is a loaded term anyway.

You are getting content you made yourself for free VS you are getting content you have not made yourself.

I havent made any of the studies I download from sci hub unless youre referring to the funding via tax dollars.

Then you are not the typical user. By and large people who use journals are scientists and students who publish themselves.

They aren’t downloading their own papers; rather those of their colleagues.