Etymology

Noun

1. A criminal who plunders at sea; commonly attacking merchant vessels, though often pillaging port towns.
2. One who breaks intellectual property laws by reproducing protected works without permission
   • 2001, John Alderman, Sonic Boom: Napster, MP3, and the New Pioneers of Music, page 178

     And Gnutella, Freenet and other pirate tools will offer plunderings beyond Fanning's fantasies."

   • 2004, David Lubar, Dunk, page 20

     They had watches that said Gucci or Rolex on them even though it was obvious they'd come straight here from some pirate factory in China.

   • 2008, Martha Vicinus, Caroline Eisner, Originality, Imitation, and Plagiarism: Teaching Writing in the Digital Age, page 21

     If we untangle the claim that technology has turned Johnny Teenager into a pirate, what turns out to be fueling it is the idea that if Johnny Teenager were to share his unauthorized copy with two million of his closest friends the effect on a record company would be pretty similar to the effect of some CD factory's creating two million CDs and selling them cheap.

3. One who breaks intellectual property laws by knowingly receiving such copies.

Synonyms

Verb

1. To appropriate by piracy, plunder at sea.

   They pirated the tanker and sailed to a port where they could sell the ship and cargo.

2. To create and/or sell an unauthorized copy of
3. To knowingly obtain an unauthorized copy of

   Not willing to pay full price for the computer game, Heidi pirated a copy.

   • 2002, John Sayle Watterson, College Football: History, Spectacle, Controversy, page 343

     In the 1970s cable companies began to pirate some of the football games that the networks had contracted to televise.

   • 2004, Wally Wang, Steal this File Sharing Book: What They Won't Tell You about File Sharing

     College students, with their limited budgets, often pirate software to save their money for buying more important items (like beer).

   • 2007, Diane Kresh, Council on Library and Information Resources, The Whole Digital Library Handbook, page 85

     Many college students now expect to sample, if not outright pirate, movies, music, software, and TV programs.

4. To engage in piracy.

   He pirated in the Atlantic for years before becoming a privateer for the Queen.

Adjective

1. Illegaly imitated or reproduced, said of a well-known trademarked product or work subject to copyright protection and the counterfeit itself.