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!