what if I encode a bunch of random bytes by hand, and it just happens to make a file that sounds like WHO LET THE DOGS OUT. I made this, why is that illegal? Why is it illegal for my friends to do the same, whether they copied mine or not? What if I want to paint a picture of a copyrighted work of art to hang on my wall? Should that be illegal? Then what if my "peer" comes over, sees the painting and "uploads" the mental image into his memory, and paints his own version of it? Should I be sued for that? Or is the fact that paintings aren't easily copied a natural protection of the original artist's investment?