The same way the big youtubers can afford to run a business making videos that people can watch for free?
Yeah... because you'd just love your music or film to stop at a random point and show you an ad. :/
On the grand scheme of things, the film industry is doing just fine. Budgets are bigger than ever, and the big ticket flicks are making money hand over fist.
The only people suffering in this age are the little guys. The independents.
And they NEED to make their product £4.50 a digital rental because of piracy to make their budget back... and to make a profit off of the blood, sweat and tears that they've put in to actually get a film out there without the backing of the big studios and their blank cheques.
Because with that profit, they can make another movie. Just like any other industry.
When you're at ground level and seeing how things really are in the business, you'd be able to see how soul destroying it is for an independent filmmaker to see their film show up on torrents or newsgroups.
It isn't only food off their plates, it's a direct impact on their professional status. When their film isn't making money because everyone's downloading it for free, how can they prove themselves to financiers on their next project? If they don't have a track record of good product (and that DOESN'T mean that their previous films themselves weren't amazing), how can they get the money to expand... and bring audiences more great stuff?
Short answer: They can't. It's a business, like any other.
But people don't make a distinction when they're downloading for free. One film is as good as another.
So I don't think there's any blanketing "the industry" in terms of how you should ethically treat it when it comes to piracy. People don't. They just get what they want to watch -- whether it's a drop in the ocean to Mr. McBillionaire who couldn't care because the film he produced already made countless millions, or made by the little guy sitting in his house wishing that just 50 more people would buy his film... because that might help him get it into Walmart if he could just show those figures.