Academic work is pirated for much the same reasons that music was in the early 2000s—not just because people prefer to get something for free, but because the industry’s distribution model is deeply broken. Academic publishing is dominated by for-profit companies including Reed Elsevier, Taylor & Francis, and Sage, and many university libraries, even at large research institutions, can’t afford the high subscription fees for all of the journals their faculty need.
Paying individually for articles is impractical when a researcher needs dozens or even hundreds of articles, which can cost up to $35 each, largely paid for with the personal funds of professors and students. I can’t count how many times I’ve seen my academic friends on Facebook FB 1.20% begging for someone with better library access to share a copy of an article they desperately need.
Source: Fortune