I have spent 20 years studying iconography. I have dedicated my life to it. I have lived on the edge of poverty because of it. I have made countless sacrifices to keep doing this work. But I didn't do any of this because I am building a business or creating intellectual property.
I did this because it is God's work. I continue doing this because for some reason, God set this path in front of me even though I never asked for it. I do this because in spite of what I bring to my art, through God's grace it helps people on the path to salvation.
Joseph doesn't want to steal anything. If he did, he would have just printed the pictures out and been done with it. He wants to do what is right, he's just hoping that there is a solution that allows him to have an icon of his patron saint and another beloved saint while still allowing him to buy food. If all he is using it for is for personal prayer, I don't care if he prints out my icons from the web. They are low quality, but they are better than nothing. I told him so in a private message, and I hope he checks back to at least get that.
Yes, I want to make a living, I want to provide for my family. I would love it if God would see fit to make me a slightly less poor person, but I am not going to pitch a fit over a few low resolution images that some college student prints out. May God bless him with those images. It is one thing to go after commercial ventures that steal images for personal gain, it is another thing to insist that something that is supposed to be the work of the Holy Spirit through our hands is something that we should fight to keep others from using.
This should not take away from the message that people should support iconographers in their ministries. We should all support the ministries of others in the church to the best of our abilities, but no one who ministers to others should set financial gain above helping others.