Yea, this is an interesting effect. I wonder why there isn't an OpenSourceGetty company that charges a much lower fee for guaranteeing that the IP really is open source? They do the research leg work, and then you pay them $5 for a commitment to reimburse/defend you if you get sued.

I guess someone else could just try to free-ride off them by not doing the research, but honestly the legal commitment ("bonded open source") would be the valuable and expensive part.