I don't even understand why he goes through all this if he just releases his works publicly anyway
seems like it punishes paying supporters more than anyone else by adding another hoop to go through
Unfortunately, some people think that if they avoid content leaks, they'll reap the profits they supposedly could. It's funny, but it doesn't work that way.
Piracy has no effect whatsoever. There's already been confirmation that people who wanted to buy will buy, and their opinions can be influenced by either 70-80% discounts or content that deserves the seller's asking price.
Due to many factors and the fickle nature of human psychology, only 2-3 out of 10 people would even consider pirating.
And authors think that "original" images will definitely sell if they change the copyright protection. But many will either be too lazy to go through all the steps, or find it easier to get smaller, slightly lower-quality content than to pay or figure out and waste their time accepting the author's terms. For example, I used to have no problem spending dollars (I didn't even care that the author was a cheapskate). But after problems with payment and currency in my country, I can't anymore. I don't give a shit about "buying a card that can be used to pay $1, finding out how to buy it, and paying a 30-40% surcharge to buy a card worth $1." That's why I can get content while waiting for someone to leak it.
Now ask yourself for a second, do content creators even think about the hell someone has to go through to get their fucking content, which they probably don't even store or back up?
Of course, good work should be paid, but not every work deserves to be paid for.