Curious of opinions on this... if one were to download a hard to find scanned digital version of a book/magazine by a deceased artist, who did the artwork as 'work for hire', for a company that is long defunct, and said book/magazine is out of print and actual existing material copies of said book/magazine are currently of negligible monetary value within the relative market... is this significantly an act of piracy, or even just regular old piracy?

 

The basic answer would be yes it is piracy.  The assets, which that picture is, do belong to someone/company.  Even if the person/company no longer actively is selling that asset it is their property and they have not given you the right to make copies of it. 

Here is a simple pair of questions:

Is it illegal to kill someone?

Is it illegal to make copies of materials and distribute said copies that you did not create and do not have the Arthurs permission to do so? 

 

The questions are very simple and the correct answer is YES.  The fact that you can do something does not give you the right to do that thing.  The penalty for your actions will vary depending on how bad it is, but the penalty is not a reason to do something either.

The odds of the original owners of that picture/article in your example coming after you is very small.  The fact you found it worthwhile to make the copy in the first place shows that it does have some value.  The correct course of action is to track down the owner ask permission and follow their wishes.  If they are not going to let you make copies then you have to wait until the property becomes public domain.

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