Originally posted by asaru Anyone who wants to sell an image should be able to sell it. Once. Once it's sold, that's it. Anyone who wants to publish an image should be able to buy it and publish it. Once. Once it's published, that's it. The choice on whether to sell or not, to buy or not, to publish or not, can be made, but it should only be made once. If anyone can't make enough working that way, one should really look for other work.
Really trying to understand your viewpoint, but struggling.
So I take an image and sell it once. The person who buys it uses it on their website. For how long? Can they use it on print materials as well? Was it sold as royalty free or rights managed? If RM, what rights were sold with the license?
I have images that have sold hundreds of times. I know photographers that have images that have sold thousands of times. And I use the term 'sold' loosely and inaccurately, the images are all licensed for a particular use. Some as RF which allows the buyer to continue using it for the purpose described in the license indefinitely. Some are licensed as RM which confers specific rights for a specific time and geographical area.
As another example if someone writes a book they can sell only one copy of it? Same thing, intellectual property. I created that image and I own the copyright to it.