It's not about owning an idea, like a patent is. It's about receiving payment for someone else using the code I developed. The price for using my code is that you also release your source code. If that price is too high, you can't use my code. The hard part is defining "use my code" in the context of reading my source, then using those ideas in your own project. At what point does it change from gathering an idea to just copying my code?
All intellectual property (including copyright) is based on the fundamental premise that legal entitlement can be granted to ideas or "creations of the intellect."
