For stuff like games and shows I generally pay, but these scientific articles are not like entertainment media. I would argue that it is the journals who are the pirates, and not the people downloading the articles. The scientists who do the research do not get paid for these articles. The peer reviewers also do not get paid, they work for free. The journals are 100% rent seeking. Much of this research was paid for by taxes too, which makes it even more insidious.