[Suzerain of Sheol]

Something else to consider also is the effect of globalization on the saturation of any kind of creative market. There's just so much being created, which thanks to DeviantArt, Youtube, Etsy, Ebay, and the rest of internet, an audience of billions is exposed to but at the same time, the number of content producers has increased exponentially.

I would contend it is almost definitionally impossible for a true classic or masterpiece to be created now in any medium -- there's simply too many alternatives bombarding us at all times for any one creative work to take on the kind of hallowed cultural status that was possible before the information age. It's unlikely any work will stand the test of time anymore.

Rather than pessimism, though, I think it's cause instead for a paradigm shift. We don't live in that world any longer, what it means to be a successful artist has changed. Mourning the passing of a bygone zeitgeist is pointless.

And, Law, if I could make a suggestion, I think more productive conversations would ensue if you were able to present your ideas more concisely. I honestly don't know what, exactly, you're argument even is, you've jumped from computer programs invalidating criminal sketch artists to digital art theft. It's difficult to respond to such a scattershot of ideas.

Also, you may want to look into stories of some of the novel ways people have marketed their ideas and work through the internet in ways that have defeated piracy. The comedian Louis CK sells DVDs of his shows for anything someone is willing to donate to his website, as little as one cent, and despite them all being on youtube, he's become a millionaire in only a few short years. We're in a transitional period of adapting to the ways the internet has changed our lives. There's no reason to think that a new creative marketplace for art of all kinds won't emerge or isn't already emerging.