plural piracies
1
: an act of robbery on the high seas
also
: an act resembling such robbery
2
: robbery on the high seas
3
a
: the unauthorized use of another's production, invention, or conception especially in infringement of a copyright
b
: the illicit accessing of broadcast signals
Examples of piracy in a Sentence
piracy on the high seas
many countries have harsh penalties for piracy now
Recent Examples on the Web
So far, two films have been pulled from digital, at-home screenings for the festival after issues of piracy and copyright infringement— people were circulating clips and key plot points for both films; neither has a distributor at the moment.
—
Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 1 Feb. 2025
Today is the first time legislators have really dared to touched the issue of digital piracy since then.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 29 Jan. 2025
The agency’s research pointed to a number of successes over the last year, including collaboration between the U.S. government and foreign governments to combat piracy and counterfeit efforts from Vietnam, Brazil, Kuwait and the Philippines.
—Lauren Irwin, The Hill, 9 Jan. 2025
Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, YouTube have all signed deals to distribute licensed live sports and have an obvious stake in seeing piracy not undermine those deals.
—Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 6 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for piracy 
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Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 1 Feb. 2025
Today is the first time legislators have really dared to touched the issue of digital piracy since then.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 29 Jan. 2025
The agency’s research pointed to a number of successes over the last year, including collaboration between the U.S. government and foreign governments to combat piracy and counterfeit efforts from Vietnam, Brazil, Kuwait and the Philippines.
—Lauren Irwin, The Hill, 9 Jan. 2025
Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, YouTube have all signed deals to distribute licensed live sports and have an obvious stake in seeing piracy not undermine those deals.
—Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 6 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for piracy
Dictionary Entries Near piracy
Cite this Entry
“Piracy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/piracy. Accessed 10 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
piracy
noun
pi·ra·cy
ˈpī-rə-sē 
plural piracies
1
: robbery on the high seas
2
: the use of another's production or invention without permission
Legal Definition
piracy
noun
pi·ra·cy
ˈpī-rə-sē
plural piracies
1
: an act of robbery especially on the high seas
specifically
: an illegal act of violence, detention, or plunder committed for private ends by crew or passengers of a private ship or aircraft against another ship or aircraft on the high seas or in a place outside the jurisdiction of any state see also air piracy
2
a
: the unauthorized copying, distribution, or use of another's production (as a film) especially in infringement of a copyright
software piracy
b
: the unauthorized use, interception, or receipt of encoded communications (as satellite cable programming) especially to avoid paying fees for use
the statute's purpose is to proscribe the piracy of programming signals—United States v. Harrell, 983 F.2d 36 (1993)
United States v. Harrell, 983 F.2d 36 (1993)3
: the crime of committing piracy
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