The narrative of the pirate is a potent one. The pirate is a devious, morally corrupt criminal who doesn’t care about you or the law. But in questioning the act of piracy, where does this narrative come from? And just how accurate is it?

This episode, James Meese (University of Technology Sydney) introduces us to the original pirates and runs through the timeline of copyright law. Tom MacDonald (Queens University) pleads the case for the political digital pirate, articulating how piracy pushes back against the control of copyright holders.