Didn't piracy go down massively back when Netflix first released? Because back then it was an affordable way for many to legally access a ton of content they couldn't access legally before.

Ofc Netflix has since evolved past that point, but that's also why many people don't really like it anymore.

Also for me personally (because I have no data on how others view this):

If I only have the ability to legally get the licence to watch a movie/anime/whatever and not actually have any legal ability to buy it for a non ridiculous price, then my willingness to possibly see if I can get a pirated copy onto my HDD increases the more I actually like said movie/anime/whatever. Paying for being allowed to watch something during a specified timeframe easily gets more expensive the more often I actually want to rewatch and I don't usually want to rewatch something 5 times a month but rather spread out across multiple months/years. I'd even be fine with only being able to properly buy a digital copy as I understand that printing more Blu Rays or whatever is just not that profitable once a few years have passed (as sometimes I stumble across stuff that just is older and that I haven't been able to watch earlier). But I want the ability to actually own it so I can rewatch whenever I want without being forced to rely on the goodwill of some streaming company when it comes to availability/pricing.