An ethical pirate buys an official copy to support the creators, but uses a ripped copy because it's not only convenient but permanent.
Is it worth supporting the creator here? When the creator is just a company that owns the work of another and treats their customer in this fashion?
A company that owns the work of another is not a creator. The moral rights (droits moraux), which include the right of attribution, sit with the creator and are not transferable.
It depends. But usually smaller musical labels, or smaller publishing houses, or even large Hollywood studios directly relate to the creators, and share profits with them.
Buying directly from creators is great when available, and usually the resulting file is unencumbered enough so that pirating it just makes no sense. (This is why most money I spent on music pass through Bandcamp.)
That’s a lot of trouble, more than straight piracy and more than straight commercial “purchase”. That seems an unreasonable burden to impose on normal people.
Is it really ethical to reward abusive business practices?