(A) crim. law. A robbery or forcible depreciation on the high seas, without lawful authority, done animo furandi, in the spirit and intention of universal hostility. 5 Wheat. 153, 163; 3 Wheat. 610; 3 Wash. C. C. R. 209. This is the definition of this offence by the law of nations. 1 Kent, Com. 183. The word is derived from peira deceptio, deceit or deception: or from peiron wandering up and down, and resting in no place, but coasting hither and thither to do mischief. (B) torts. By piracy is understood the plagiarisms of a book, engraving or other work, for which a copyright has been taken out. 2. When a piracy has been made of such a work, an injunction will be granted.
Law Dictionary – Alternative Legal Definition
In criminal law. A robbery or forcible depredation on the high seas, without lawful authority, done animo fur andi, in the spirit and intention of universal hostility. United States v. Palmer, 3 Wheat. 610, 4 L. Ed. 471. This is the definition of this offense by the law of nations. There is a distinction between the offense of piracy, as known to the law of nations, which is justiciable everywhere, and offenses created by statutes of particular nations, cognizable only before the municipal tribunals of such nations. Dole v. Insurance Co., 2 Cliff. 394, 418, Fed. Cas. No. 3,966. The term is also applied to the illicit reprinting or reproduction of a copyrighted book or print or to unlawful plagiarism from it. Pirata est hostis humani generis. 3 Inst. 113. A pirate is an enemy of the human race.