I think there are some grey areas within copyright pertaining to availability and probably other areas too. When family finances push priorities elsewhere and a decision is creating an opportunity for a "poorer" worker, I am often influenced by those things.

On availability, it is very common in Australia for even "I don't pirate movies"-types to torrent TV shows by episode or season because they are simply not being shown even on paid TV here and don't seem to be on the radar for the future. Meanwhile, things like Hulu/Netflix/etc are geo-blocked.

Had the artist in question made available unnumbered prints for a reasonable price or numbered prints at maybe 500 Euros, it's unlikely I would've even thought to give the Chinese painting village a shot.