The underlying attitude that bothers me in these discussions on HN is that most of us are in the software business, so what it amounts to is "my intellectual property (software) is super valuable, and your intellectual property (photos, music, writing) is worthless". Do we really want to live in a world where people can't make a living from photography or writing or music?
That's the thing though: I do think the code that I write is fairly worthless. I do custom programming for a small company. The work I do is a competitive advantage for them, but it is so specific to them that even if I were to, say, get approval to open source the whole lot, they wouldn't lose a penny, nor would their competitors really gain anything. The value isn't in the IP, the value is in the fact that it enables them to get their work done quicker and better and be more responsive to their clients.
The code isn't the key part: the value is the fact that I can take complex and changing requirements and build them a one-off tool that does exactly what they want.
The code will be gone in five years, probably ten, as business needs will change.
I'd give you a strait answer, but do you realize that the Free Software Movement is much more widespread than royalty free photography or music?
Furthermore, among the crafts you mentioned, being a programmer is by far the less profitable one.
I'll untwist your twisted question. Honestly, why are you so worried about 'artists' and not worried about programmers?
No, the opposite. By 'photographers' we're refering to those who take advantage of their copyright. This excludes for example wedding photographers which are only payed to press the shutter but end up giving away their 'artwork'.
