RE: Copyright Violation - Why it is morally wrong
As was mentioned elsewhere, the image used is a copy of a copy. Arrangements of 1's and 0's are not a scarce, rivalrous resource, and thus no one can place a claim of ownership on them. You cannot own an idea, as ideas aren't scarce, and thus they are excluded from property norms.
This is why so-called piracy cannot possibly be theft. Copying something and leaving the original deprives no one of anything. You are entitled to the proceeds from selling what you have (your original photograph) to someone or to a group of people. You are not entitled to compensation from a later user who has utilized a copy of your original work.
Using myself as an example, I write. I produce fiction and non-fiction. If I wanted to sell what I produced to someone, ethically I am entitled to the agreed-upon amount for the sale, and for any other arrangements for compensation I have established with the buyer. However, if someone were to copy my work and print it themselves, I am not ethically entitled to any proceeds arising from their sale. I would be well within my rights to point out that this work is not theirs and show how it isn't (reputations exist for this reason), but I have no grounds whatsoever to seek restitution.
Use without attribution is a poor practice, to be certain, and I don't agree with it. However, making the leap into theft is baseless. There's no consistent ethical foundation for it. Nothing you own has been stolen by the copy that was used, as tasteless as its use was.
Ah, you have no idea what you are talking about. I beg to differ! How on earth can anyone ever sell the ORIGINAL of a digital image? LOL! I own the revenue from that image that I produced. And I own the rights to every reproduction of it! No one ever purchases my work , anyway! It is licensed for use, and that is all! I have the right to rent out anything I own, because that is essentially what I am doing!
You cannot copyright an idea to be sure. So if someone else wants to photograph a cross on a Bible, then that's OK. On the other hand, if someone sets out to reproduce my image with exactly the same lighting and placement of the cross, even that my friend is a copyright violation. Taking my image, and even altering it for your own use is a violation too.
By law no one has the right to use my work or derivatives thereof without my permission, or the permission of the agency licensing it. You may not like the laws. You may not like speeding laws either, but break the law and you face the consequences. There are consequences for breaking copyright laws too, and I am well within my rights to pursue them! I'm sorry if that offends you.
So, are you telling me that as a stock photographer I don't deserve to make a living from what I create? Where is the freedom for me to make a living? You tell me I have to collect all the ones and zeros of my original image and I can sell that once, but I have no right to rent out my own intellectual property? I have invested many thousands of dollars in education and equipment for my business just as any other business owner has. So, I don't have a legitimate business? Tell that to the IRS!
I'm not angry with you. Your attitude just bewilders and saddens me. A whole generation seems to think that if it feels OK just do it, and if you want it, just take it! It doesn't matter who gets trampled on in the fray, as long as THEIR rights (as they see them) are honored! Forget the rights of the creator!