I've been hugely inspired by things I've read, but the artistic cycle for me never included copying and pasting large swathes of their work and squirreling it away on my hard drive. If it's for sale, I'll buy it if it inspired me that greatly. I have thousands of books in my home, literally. I celebrate what inspires me by supporting that writer and buying their work. The same goes for music and movies. If it inspires me, I give the artist my support where it counts, by paying for the product.
Have I loaned a book out? Of course. But it was a book I actually paid for, and I didn't offer it for mass reproduction. I lent it to a single person, who read it and returned it. Not at all the same as thinking that something I've written has been downloaded without my consent (you will note in my disclaimers for my original works that I reserve all rights, which includes copying). Sharing my art is not the same as giving it away like flyers on a street corner.
As far as nothing being safe on the Internet, I'm well aware. I was around for the birth of the Internet, and I remember the lovely idealistic hopes held out for it. I'm also cynic enough to have known it couldn't last, and that's why anything I intend to publish, aside from my outtakes and character development pieces, will never be published online until it's a Kindle that my publisher is offering for sale.