If someone can grab an image off Flickr legally (most people allow free usage) at no cost whatsoever, might that reduce the demand for and the price of stock photography and other professional work?

All Answers To Questions

From my experience, buyers of stock images don't bother with Flickr, Photobucket and the like, because the quality is all over the map and the sites are not organized enough to find what you want. So the answer is no. HTH V

Not exactly. With millions of images (a lot from amateurs) It is very difficult to find a good photo in flickr. It might look good on the screen, but for pro purposes like printing etc, it might not be good enough. Sites like www.fotolia.com sell stock images starting from $1. Good images, a lot of them from pro. Each and every photo is checked for its quality and aesthetic appeal. So the pricing level is already gone down in stock photography. I don't think it can go down below this.

As far as I can tell most people on Flickr Do Not allow free usage. The default copyright on flickr is 'all rights reserved' and most of the images I have seen on there are applying this copyright.