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Originally Posted by robski
Principally the copyright law is about protecting the originators income.
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Not quite. It can also be used to protect an originators reputation and other interests. This is a recent judgment on the issue by the US Court of Appeals as far as Open Source, Creative Commons, and Artistic Licenses are concerned:
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Traditionally, copyright owners sold their copyrighted material in exchange for money. The lack of money changing hands in open source licensing should not be presumed to mean that there is no economic consideration, however. There are substantial benefits, including economic benefits, to the creation and distribution of copyrighted works under public licenses that range far beyond traditional license royalties. For example, program creators may generate market share for their programs by providing certain components free of charge. Similarly, a programmer or company may increase its national or international reputation by incubating open source projects. Improvement to a product can come rapidly and free of charge from an expert not even known to the copyright holder. The Eleventh Circuit has recognized the economic motives inherent in public licenses, even where profit is not immediate.
http://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/opinions/08-1001.pdf
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