If an image is illegally converted to digital format and distributed, the original image is not devalued. The image can be posted to the Internet and distributed worldwide at the speed of light. This solution is near meaningless if your image exists in original form on 10,000 computers from Hungary to Indonesia. There is a growing movement around the world that suggests that the whole concept of copyright has been outdated by technology. It is implied that information has become a raw material that exists in the public domain.
Magazines routinely use copied images.
Electronic data bases include digital copies of all types of visual art. Governments are asking whether it will be possible to police copyright in the 3rd millenia. A laissez-faire attitude to Copyright only increases the momentum of disregard for creator's rights. This means quite simply that you do not copy. It means no illegal software on your computer and it means no copying movies from the video store.