Expecting to be paid for use of your copyrighted material makes *YOU* the pirate? I knew you guys were twisted, but that takes the cake.
For one, the RIAA is known to have ripped off many artists extensively; for example, hiding behind creative accounting to prevent having to pay full royalties to artists, knowing that most can't pay yearly for the expensive accounting audits necessary to detect such fraud. That is their regular business practice.
Aside from that, copyrights are not absolute. There is such a thing as Fair Use, both in law and precedent, and the *AA has been doing its best to eliminate those rights of the people through its strong lobby and legal intimidation.
Yes, they are pirates. And you, as an IT guy, shouldn't have to worry about a lawsuit if a program you wrote to ensure your fair use ends up being used for illegal means.