Here's a few articles by Wendy Grossman, a freelance journo who writes a lot about IP, user rights, creator rights etc. Historically she's been pretty much on the side of freeing up usage rights for the great unwashed and against things like holding copyright 60+ years after death etc
Inside IT: A picture paints a thousand invoices | Technology | Guardian Unlimited Technology
net.wars: One copyright does not fit all
makes for interesting reading.
As a web dev meself I find most of the stock photography sites prohibitivly expensive. My clients don't expect a bill for £500 for a website + another £1000 for a signle image
Luckilly there are plenty of free stock photo sites. Also, one of the reasons I got my cam in the first place was so I could shoot myself and not have to worry about these licensing fees.
What's your take on all of this?