[Discussion] Have you ever pirated something because you forgot you own it?

Shit, I've pirated something because I forgot I had already pirated it.
- Came here for exactly this comment verbatim
  
  Well then it's a good thing I made it

I pirate because it's more convenient. No launcher, no update, no DRM, no need to be always online. I still purchase games but still play the pirated version.
- I bought a physical book, but I like reading from my Kindle better so I pirated a copy of it as well.
  
  I quite often do this for art books, I find it easier on my eyes reading text on the pirate ebook version (I can make the font as big as I need), but use the hardcopy for eyeing up the pictures
- I’ve been pirating for years and am literally just now learning about exactly how bad the launcher apocalypse has gotten. Didn’t even know you needed one for legit Ubisoft games lmao.
  And nothing of value was lost.
  
  I don't know if this works for all Ubisoft games, but for Rayman Legends there is a dll that will circumvent the stupid Uplay Launcher and just make it launch normally (see https://steamcommunity.com/app/242550/discussions/0/3647273545686004759/ , comment by murla)
- I bought a physical book, but I like reading from my Kindle better so I pirated a copy of it as well.

I found my home server is sooooo much faster and more reliable than my streaming services. I usually forget I can watch in a legit way. No ads to skip, stupid popups when you pause, or buffering issues. I ❤️ Local Files!
- I've considered this before too. Watching a movie on a streaming service only to see it buffer and decrease quality before more visually intensive scenes. It's pathetic how easily I could find a better encoded rip, stream it to my TV, and actually be able to appreciate those scenes the artists worked so hard on.
- Jellyfin?

I pirated a game because my parents had a party at our house and I didn't want to deal with people while getting the game from the living room.
For the curious, LoZ:Twilight Princess.
- I have pirated games I own because the game was downstairs and I didn't feel like going down there.
- I love this

Basically everything on prime video because I can't stand the lag on the official app
- Same. Since they don't support Linux. (Only low quality playback on Linux)

I have pirated stuff I know I own because the pirated copy was better quality than what I actually paid for.
I've own GTA 4 on Steam for years but recently sort out a cracked copy because I keep having issues with Rockstars shitty DRM and them removing songs from the radio in updates.
- Who doesn't have issues with Steam. In my case I have two older games who's Steam versions plain suck, pirated versions however, just flawless.
  
  That's on the publisher, Rockstar sucks a lot for old games.

I once pirated a book I wrote because it was faster to download a pirate PDF than to find my original files and export a PDF myself.
It still counted as piracy because the book was owned by a company I used to own.
- The most moral piracy possible.

Man, I'll download stuff just because I don't want to dig through all the DVDs lol.
But, yah, I actually have done that a few times. I even did it twice with goonies. I keep forgetting that I got it as a gift on DVD years ago, get a hankering to watch it, and I've got so many files that it's easy for my dyslexic ass to miss one while scrolling.
Did it with several of those older nostalgia movies here and there because of the same reason. But I still never get around to dyslexia proofing my file naming lol.

I bought starsector but I have no idea what my actual key is anymore so I always just use the key from SsethTzeentach's video on it. So it's technically piracy but from what I've heard the Starsector dev doesn't care that people just use that key because that video and the key being released publicly made their sales go way up anyways. They're one of the few devs that realizes that piracy doesn't actually hurt their sales.
- Hey Hey People

More. I downloaded The Last Wish in PDF I think, but I forgot I had bought the book. After a spring cleaning I found a second copy of the book I had bought.

Not what you asked, but I pirated a software because it could only run on one machine. For my second computer they wanted me to buy another license... Unacceptable.

I pirate things I have right in front of me!! Scratched DVD's that won't rip, same for CD's, and sometimes old digital formats that are no longer well supported, or in the case of eBooks, don't re-flow properly. Yes, some of us are still doing weird shit we got used to on Blackberries and Palm Pilots(These days I use Sprint Reader, but I'll also read the material normally when studying for a test).
Some shows or movies I pay to stream don't work well on whatever device I've opted to play them on. Knowing why doesn't magically give me the means to transcode as needed without screen capture; Piracy skips the steps of watching them on a device I didn't mean to just to edit/trim and then have them in a format I no longer need!

I've downloaded a car. Now I have 2 car.

I spent hours trying to find a specific DVD and gave up. Found it by other means in about 10 minutes.
Eventually I found the DVD about 6 months later misplaced in a CD case.
Didnt lose any sleep over that one.

GTA: SA. I have a DVD for the official PC version, it's the one with all the music still intact. I often re-download it on TPB and then remember that I made an ISO of my good ol' DVD version ^^

Yes, because I lost the original version.

I pirate things knowing that I own them... All my old TurboGraphx HuCard roms. I would rather play on modern hardware.

Because I forgot I own it... no. But because I was too lazy go get the physical media and insert into my desktop player, oh yes. To be fair it downloaded probably faster than the time I would've spent looking for it.

Downloaded Control from Fitgirl, but turns out I already have it on Epic.
- At least when you pirate it you have chance of it not containing malware.
  
  I trust FitGirl. But does Epic Game Store have malware? All of my purchased games are on Steam.

Yeah. I pirated it already.

I thought I had cyberpunk on steam, couldn't find it so figured I must have pirated it when it launched. I downloaded it and was about to install it when a friend reminded me that gog existed and that was where I owned it.

to see if it was worthwhile.
If you are done with what you were set out to do, then sure, upgrade it if it's free.
- I have learned it works well enough to integrate into my workflow. Which was why I was looking into purchasing it, when I realized the buy option was replaced with download when I signed in.

Not sure why you got downvoted. Though to your question, never happened to me.
But I did pirate a game, I already owned. Death Stranding. I owned it for the PS4 and I back then hated it.
Wanted to retry it but just for the story. Pirated it on PC, got WeMod put everything on and went to play for story, environment and relaxation.
It was such an amazing experience.
- It's alright. Points don't matter. If the community doesn't like this prompt I don't mind.
  Death Stranding always looked odd to me but with time it's started to sound more unique and worthwhile.

I've done that with console games on multiple occasions. I'll own a physical copy and already went through the trouble to back up my own copy with my console but I'll download it anyway
- On the off chance the checksum on yours is different, you don't want it somehow noted and flagged by ... anyways, levels of paranoia I get and respect. They can't take that thumb drive if its air-gapped!! Keep it hidden and safe children, its my legacy!
  If I could find a dense and permanent enough storage medium, I would take (a copy of)it all to my grave... Feeling like by the time such reaches consumers at a reasonable price, it will also be able to hold a copy of the Pole Shif Survival Guide.
  
  On the off chance the checksum on yours is different, you don't want it somehow noted and flagged by ... anyways, levels of paranoia I get and respect. They can't take that thumb drive if its air-gapped!!
  Do you think I'm worried about Microsoft coming after me for backing up my copy of Halo?

I usually play the pirated (abandoned) version of No One Lives Forever because I'm too lazy to deal with the disc.

How is Serato these days? I moved to Traktor around 5 years ago but have recently been looking to change controllers and not sure if I should stick with Traktor or try moving back.
- I just use the sampler as a VST in my daw for some inspiration.
  Edit: now that I look they actually have a pretty generous 30 day trial for Sample 2.0 even if you've trialed an older version before. I'm so used to 3 day trials with something like iLok tacked on too.

i often pirate movies from a streaming services that im subscribed why? well im used to watch movies at 1.10x speed and tvshows at 1.15x i'd been doing this for years now and i cant go back and netflix or primevideo apps in Smart TV dont allow you to set custom speed so i download the movie on my nas and watch it using VLC for android TV/FIRETV better quality and custom speed.
this is in my bedroom on PC i cant set custom speed using browser

I’ve pirated old games because I don’t remember where the floppies are, let alone a floppy drive.
- I’ve pirated games because I was too lazy to put the disc in…
  
  I do that when I need data files for some open source engine recreation. I have multiple copies of Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 and Morrowind but can't be bothered to reinstall them for five minutes of use.
  
  After I posted this, gave it a bit more thought and I’ve done the same thing with CD-ROM games because I barely even use CD/DVD these days.

I pirated the game for my Wii unbecaaise even when I bought second Blu-ray/dvd whatever for the game , it won't run and I get errors about it
- “Unbecause”. I like that. I’ll be using that.