As a researcher myself, the pre-internet age was somehow workable. Somehow, books were published. Somehow, pictures were found. The images that are available at auction sites are there for all to see. It is like window shopping. The products, and that is what they are, are presented to all who might have an interest. Ethics starts with you or me. Of course, researchers have a chance to see images they might never had seen otherwise, but what is wrong with the rather simple idea of getting permission? Too much work? Hardly. Assuming those images were culled from say, 50 sites, that's 50 emails out in a day or two. But I know I speak to a generation who may have never written a letter.
And for those publishers who want to make money on the internet with copyrighted images? The problem extends even to comic books.
http://comicscommentary.blogspot.com...n-against.html
It is nice that the internet provides access, but we are not living in a no-limits world. If we are to peacefully co-exist with our neighbors, whether nations, cities or individuals, we should not steal what rightly belongs to someone else. We communicate, ask permission and build relationships.
Best,
Ed