Obviously. Yes, the law didn’t exist, but copying others’ content was viewed as stealing, which is why there was a push to turn it into real, legal theft. Apologies for using shorthand. What words would you have chosen? Maybe you can make my point for me, because the law was written in response to am actual problem people had of being able to recoup their investments.

I don’t agree that ‘theft’ requires existing legal property rights to exist, that is not the definition of the word, so your claim in inaccurate. Theft is the act of stealing, which is taking something without permission. It can one-sided from the perspective of the person who was taken from, and still be theft.