Au, contraire, it does make the artist look cheap and materialistic. I remember a few of my friends swore off Metallica after Lars Ulrich made it clear that it's not about the music. That behavior alone made me realize how jaded somebod can get. This is appreciation, not theft.Nobody says, "Hey, I'm gonna download some Metallica because they're jerks." People stop listening to them for that.

It's like Edvard Munch's painting The Scream. It's been stolen more than a few times by people looking to profit, but you also have people buying reproductions because they love it so much. Edvard Munch never sees many profits from it, partially because it is so well known and also because he's, well...dead. Every time it's stolen I bet he'd be proud, just to know something of his is so valued that people are willing to break the law to get it.

I respect the rights of artists to profit from their work, but when they get overprotective and start punishing fans for being fans, even though they already have everything they've ever dreamed of, that's when I know that they don't deserve their place. Making a living is one thing, but enforcing the lw for the purpose of your own excesses is something completely different.