You do not need to pay $700 upfront. Splice offers "Rent-to-Own" for Melodyne Assistant. You pay $7.99/month for 24 months. If you cancel, you keep what you paid for. For the price of a Starbucks run, you get a legal, updating license.
While "piracy" traditionally implies illegal downloading, in the Melodyne community melodyne pirate
Imagine you are a freelance engineer. You mix a song for a client using a cracked Melodyne. The client asks for revisions next week. You open the session, but a Windows update broke your crack. Or worse, Celemony released an update that blacklists your serial number. You do not need to pay $700 upfront