It’s because the people making money off most academic papers are not the authors, rather the journal/conference they likely had to pay to publish in. Textbooks are a different story though.

Scientific writers should be paid, but most of them receive grants for specific research or do their research in their function as employed researchers/lecturers at some university. Their work is then posted on some scalping journals that are charging the author a listing fee, and then charge readers an access fee, which they pocket in its entirety. Scientific authors receive ZERO compensation for their work.

Source: Used to work in academia, published a few articles myself. Best case is that your work is considered "outstanding" and the journal graciously lists it for free instead of charging you for it.

As it stands, they don't get paid when you pay for reading it anyways. They themselves pay to publish it to a journal, the journal then sells it to you.

The scientists aren't paid by people reading their science, they are paid by grants, for doing the science in the first place.

I wholeheartedly support academic "piracy", it only hurts the gatekeepers.