Eliminating copyright doesn't mean eliminating profits for artists. Historically artists such as Mozart who wrote without copyright did as well financially as those like Beethoven that wrote with copyright. (Mozart was always strapped for cash because he was a free spender, not because he didn't earn a lot.) But the competitive market is a great creative force - a great example of this is Crosbie Fitch's Digital Productions which is pioneering a way for artists to make money through contingency auctions. The idea is that fans make pledges and the money is escrowed. When sufficient pledges are received, the work (music or digital art in this case) is released to the fans.