The article situates itself within the Law & Economics tradition, in the area of intellectual property law, which determines the allocation of digital goods. The study examines how neutralisation techniques are used to explain the reasons for using pirated access to information goods. The article aims to answer the following research questions: (Q1) Which neutralisation techniques are most frequently used by individuals accessing digital information through pirate sources? (Q2) Is the frequency distribution of preferred neutralisation techniques among individuals using pirate sources the same as among those who do not use them? The research material, collected in 2022, is derived from a CAWI survey (sample of 1500 respondents). Two methods were utilised: prioritising the reasons for using pirated sources and comparing the response structures in two groups, users and non-users, referred to as pirates and non-pirates. The results indicate that the most commonly used neutralisation techniques are denial of responsibility and appeal to higher loyalties, with significant differences observed in the responses of non-users of pirated sources.