The sketchy company didn’t have to pay the creators for it because it was available via different means.
They would have had to, if they couldn’t find it otherwise.
Of course, in that case, they would have “borrowed” it from libraries and such, but then again, the premise is that they had to, which is not being fulfilled in your example.
The point you are missing is the “had to”.
The sketchy company didn’t have to pay the creators for it because it was available via different means.
They would have had to, if they couldn’t find it otherwise.
Of course, in that case, they would have “borrowed” it from libraries and such, but then again, the premise is that they had to, which is not being fulfilled in your example.