This topic comes up often enough to fall into a pattern.
Some folks feel its fine to post and download material others don't. They argue. Etc.
Here are some of the other facts that are left out of most of these arguments.
A producer has a right to his copyright regardless of if they are selling the product or not. The existence of the copyright is there to ensure that the creator of the material is able to profit off it, and no one else. Even if they chose to not chase profits for the product, this does not void the copyright. It's still in effect.
Many producers need to shut down for periods of time due to personal reasons. I'll use MistressToeGoddess as an example. She had to close her clip store and web site due to personal issues. Does this mean she has abandoned all her material and now it's a free for all to see who can upload it for free downloading as fast as possible? No. it does not. She has hopes and plans to return to business, and her material is still very valuable to her, and she hopes to sell it again some day. So her copyrights are very important to her.
Often a producer will sell his material and copyrights to another producer. This has happened many times. Solefully yours, BluFetish, and others have all done this. The material still had value and worth, and the copyrights were what made that so.
So just because a producer shutters a store does not mean their stuff is up for grabs.
A poster made a statement above that "I bought the clip, and can do what I want with it."
Incorrect. You did not buy a clip, you bought the rights to VIEW a clip, for personal use. You have a copy of the clip, (and the rights to make backup copies for yourself) for your own viewing. You do not have the right to share or post the clip you have, as the rights you purchased do not include transfer or universal broadcast rights.
This is a basic misunderstanding with digital media. You are not buying a thing like a CD or a tape, but a open right to view the material, and are provided a copy so you can do that. Nothing more.
Clip posting has killed several of the communities smaller producers, and badly dented some of the larger ones. Contrary to popular belief, producing fetish material is a marginal business. The audience that will BUY is small. A few thousand tops. Costs of production are fixed, models, equipment, etc. The majors do profit, but its tight. A new clip has a tiny sales window before it's marketability is destroyed by piracy. Less then a week at most.
Think of it this way. As fast as you are being paid at your job, someone is pickpocketing the money right out of your pocket almost as soon as you put it in. You always get to keep a little, but most of your paycheck vanishes. Tends to make one grumpy to net only about a third of what you should have gotten, no?
Arguing like this over piracy, as I'm doing is mostly pointless.
The people who want to get clips for free will get them and find a justification that works in their minds. We are always the heroes of our own stories after all.
People who are against will get indignant, and rail on the 'thieves' and so forth, but the storm and dirge is not heard by those who its directed at, or they bristle at being called thieves and such. Once again, they are 'good' in their own eyes,and of course did nothing wrong.
So what are the facts on the ground?
If enough stuff gets pirated producers go away. There comes a point when it just is not worth it. So they walk. The larger they are, the higher their costs, so the thinner the margins of theft they can suffer.
If you wake up one day and wonder why all the tickling clips suck, with bad lighting, poor bondage, and less then professional models content theft is a good first place to look for the reason why.
But hey. You are not hurting anyone. Right? All those people who might have less are in the future, and you'll have had yours already.
Myriads