"The Pythagoreans likewise said, that it is more necessary to pay attention to philosophy, than to parents and agriculture; for it is owing to the latter, indeed, that we live; but philosophers and preceptors are the causes of our living well, and becoming wise, in consequence of having discovered the right mode of discipline and instruction.
"Nor did they think fit either to speak or write in such a way, that their conceptions might be obvious to any casual person; but Pythagoras is said to have taught this in the first place to those that came to him, that, being purified from all incontinence, they should preserve in silence the doctrines they had heard.
"It is said, therefore, that he who first divulged the theory of commensurable and incommensurable quantities, to those who were unworthy to receive it, was so hated by the Pythagoreans that they not only expelled him from their common society, and from living with them, but also constructed a tomb for him and considered him as dead."
- Iamblicus, Life of Pythagoras
Seems sort of like Coca-Cola guarding their soft drink recipe, or maybe like Microsoft maintaining its monopoly. If they didn't, then customers might be better off going elsewhere.
Only eight people in the whole world know the Coca-Cola recipe and that's the way it must stay for the company to retain its value.
This is why we have Property law. It is both the reason why I cannot use Tony DiTerlizzi artwork on my website without permission, and the reason he can make a living producing that artwork I enjoy so much.
Anyway, the point my mind is racing to arrive at is this: just like iTunes licenses music to people to listen to on their computer, why not have a similar setup for licensing copyrighted artwork for people to use on their websites? Pay a few dollars per URL you want to use it on.
Does anything like this already exist or does someone who works for Apple want to recommend they create a new brand that parallels iTunes? You know, sort of an iTunes for pictures.
There are dozens of artists whose work I would buy a license to use.
Here's a list of such artists that I will periodically add to (especially when I find the long list I have put somewhere):
Sir William Fettes Douglas
Rob Alexander
Kev Walker
Jeremy Jarvis
Tsutomu Kawade
Ron Spears
Justin Sweet
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