The porn industry became easily pirated. They pivoted to live shows and pay per minute (micro-currency tokenized payments), which can't be pirated and is easy to pay for (buy blocks of tokens).
Now, the recorded shows are effectively advertising for the live shows.
This was the case for a while, but OnlyFans kinda debunks that, no? It has been the biggest source of income for modern creators, and they generally don't do live streams (outside of like Twitch). Piracy is a very common problem for them.
It is still the most profitable and popular form of distribution though. You do have to fight the DMCA battles, but when it's your income you're gonna do that. That doesn't prove your point.
Disclosure: I am anti-copyright and am dating someone whose primary income is OF. I'm hyperactive in pirate communities but still fight for my partner's content.
Information deserves to be free, but creators should still be paid for their work. Adult content barely f*king qualifies as "information".
Now, the recorded shows are effectively advertising for the live shows.