If I believed if fairy dust, I might bite. A public domain “ecosystem” will always be raped and pillaged by the establishment. But, that aside for the purpose of indulging your uber optimistic fantasy of self sustaining art supported by actual for-profit entities. It will not help me finish on time because I refuse to incorporate others’ works into mine. Seems like fraud (A LOT!). If I need a background or some other element and leverage work that is not mine, I must give them credit and compensation and then the piece becomes virtually worthless because I did not create it in whole, I pieced it together and have a community piece of junk. Also, and more fundamental to the issue, Pixabay disallows an identity that would actually let a commercial or private entity from knowing how to get in touch with me to purchase my work or hire me to create other works. Their focus is on profit, as it should be. They should just be up front about it.

I’ll try to unpack what I’m talking about. Two things are important, imho:
1. Indirect benefit. Let’s say, you give away 50 photos to Pixabay or any website with public domain textures. You spent great deal of time, invested in the equipment, and so on. Now you invest in the ecosystem of freely available photos for concept artists, designers, vfx dudes, filmmakers and creative folks.
Multiply 50 photos by 100000 people who think just like you and are ready to invest into the ecosystem and ta-daaam. Chances are, the repository like this will help you to finish your project on time, earn more money etc. Smart crowd phenomenon.
2. Direct benefit. Not talking about Pixabay here, but rather some general string of thoughts. Say, Greg Zaal gives away ALL of his HDR images and makes them CC BY 0, and then people support him on Patreon. The thank you economy in action, win-win.

Are you talking about that warm feeling you get or real benefits? Please, don’t talk in riddles. Come out and explain the benefits when your “gift” goes to buyers who have no idea who you are or how to patronize you.

Sure, turning off the internet has many benefits! 🙂 Just to add my 5 cents, I think that giving stuff for free and still getting paid for it is not mutually exclusive. I would say, it’s very beneficial to give stuff for free.

Your references are like saying United Way is truly a benevolent organization. Lots of people making lots of money there. Pixabay is deliberately burying convoluted legalese to lure in the gullible who do not intend to give there works so others can make money from them. Let me know when all of Pixabay’s employees give up their salaries becoming truly volunteers to make the internet a better. Because that is what you and they want me to do: Give away that which has taken a lifetime of experience, tens of thousands of dollars of equipment investment and a great deal of work to make the internet better. Turn off the internet. I liked the world better without it.

Grey Shades, maybe I didn’t get your irony, forgive me if that’s the case 🙂 People love giving hard work for free, when they feel that their contribution really matters and makes the internet a better place. Linux, Blender, Android, Firefox, WordPress (in a wider sense, the internet itself), all of these things are free and are being developed by people who love working for free.

“Community” has and will always be exploited by capitalists and opportunists. You millenials have a lot to learn about reality.

A voice of sanity! Thank you!!