Malcom \"Mal\" Reynolds wrote:

I'm not violating any copyright by acquiring and/or viewing it.

but you are violating the copyright by not paying to acquire and/or
view it

Copyright law defines only "distribution" and "reproduction" rights.
Not viewing or consumption or storage or possession.

Technically, whoever did the recording and then made it available
for download is the one who violated any applicable copyright
agreement or law.

and you knowingly acquiring a copy of this material, no matter
what the media, makes you an accessory to that crime

Copyright laws define civil rights with regard to some forms of
intellectual property. These are not criminal laws. You don't do any
jail time for copyright infringement. So there is no concept of being
an "accessory".

I wouldn't have gone to see this in a movie theater anyways.

The fact that you acquired this movie puts the lie to this
statement

No it doesn't.

I download movies that were shown in movies years ago but no longer
are. I did not go to see those movies at the time when they were being
shown in theaters. According to your logic, if I don't download any
given movie, then I must have seen or will see it in a theater.

I'm sure there are many people that only see a given movie when it's
eventually broadcast by a TV network many months or years after the
movie was released. They made no special effort to see the movie when
it was shown in theaters, or to buy the VHS tape or DVD disk when (or
if) such a product became available.

I haven't stolen it.

It's a product that someone spent time and money to produce.

They have the original film. They have the legal right to sell it in
the form of a DVD, or to a network to broadcast, or to a toy or game
company to make a toy or game based on the movie or the characters in
the movie. I can do none of those things.

You have it with neither the permission of the copyright
holder or its assignee, therefore you have possession of
stolen property

It is not physical property (also known as "real" property).

Copyright owners do not call the police to report a "theft" of their
"intellectual property" when I download their movie from a file locker
server. There is no "stolen property".