I wouldn't be surprised if the case will be dismissed in the end. The movie was leaked to the public months before it was officially distributed. That's negligence on their part. At the time, many people had no idea what the movie was and if it was copyrighted or not.
Now... to say that piracy is a form of theft. Well, it isn't. However, piracy is illegal. Piracy is defined as unauthorized reproduction of copyrighted materials.
So yes, it isn't stealing, but it's not authorized to be reproduced and distributed without permission.
Example:
If I steal your iPod, you do not have the iPod anymore. I have your iPod. That is stealing.
If you have a novel and I scanned all of the pages, you still have your novel. That is not stealing, that is piracy, of course that's if the novel is protected by the copyright laws.
Theft is defined as the crime of stealing. Piracy does not fall under that definition.
They should had stuck to the old copyright laws, it was much simpler and easy to follow back then. Disney is one of the reasons why the copyright laws continue to be extended and strengthened. That's why every single thing out of Disney is still copyrighted to this day. Along with many other media giants, they complicated the copyright laws even more and making it difficult for everyone.
On the upside, movies like It's A Wonderful Life can be downloaded legally since it's in the public domain. There are tons of classics you can download for free and it's legal too. Just make sure they are in the public domain before you download them.
RIAA, MMPA, etc are making it difficult for the independent filmmakers, musicians, artists, etc to make a living out of their careers.
Piracy has been around since the beginning of mankind. It's just that it's easier to access them these days. Back in the 70s, 80s and 90s, you could buy bootleg VHS tapes from your local convenience stores. Doesn't make it right, but I'm just stating the facts.