Jim Hedgepath, president of Pegasus Originals, was vacationing in the Rockies last summer when he got a tip-off via e-mail. Internet users were flocking to a new website and furiously downloading his artists' copyrighted work for free. The site shut off the downloads when Hedgepath threatened to sue. But within days the same bootlegs were circulating on an underground, members-only site. All this easy Internet piracy made Hedgepath despair for the future of his craft. "Many artists have gone, and many more will go," he sighs. "I've talked to a lot who are looking for something else to do."
Something, that...