The Blank Slate: Free vs Paid Design Resources

It's time once again for The Blank Slate, an open forum discussion on thoughts, issues and topics related to the design industry. For this issue, I have a really interesting topic, one that seems to have strong opinion on both sides of the issue. Where do you stand on the free vs paid design resources available on the web today? Here at WeGraphics we offer a multitude of top quality design resources, and in order to do that we hire our artists to produce each and every brush, vector or texture. We believe in producing the very best resources available, and in order to do so, we must charge a small fee to provide them. This keeps our artists paid, and gives them the ability to spend the time needed to produce their work. On the flip side of the issue... A lot of designers are working on a shoestring budget and are looking for free resources that they can add to their design work in order to stay under budget and on time. We understand this side of things as well, and do offer free downloads from time to time.

What side do you stand on?

Do you believe that all artists should get paid for their work? Do you believe that the web is for free distribution of content, and design resources should be free as well? I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on this. Post a comment below and let me know what you think.