A UK man was sentenced to about 3 years in prison for redistributing copies of a movie.

Someone pointed out that this is as much as the usual penalty for convicted rapists.

This redistribution was done commercially. I don't advocate legalization of commercial redistribution of copyrighted works without authorization. Works made to be used in a practical way should all be free but this was a work of fiction, not a functional work. So I don't think what Danks did has to be legalized.

However, the companies that the UK government caters to would have told it to jail him just the same if he had not tried to make one penny.

Please don't refer to unauthorized copying with the smear term, "piracy". Movie piracy is what you see in Captain Blood.