The 'colour of a tomato' analogy is a good one. I haven't used Smalltalk or it's pure OO relatives, but perhaps that school of thought would contend that the tomato is broadcasting its colour to anyone who is interested. In effect the tomato is sending the message, and none-or-more recipients are subscribed to those messages. Or not, I'm thinking aloud.
Sure - there are alternative analogies, I just don't think they are as natural a fit. 
"Mind you... we could get into another debate about the morals of file sharing (a subject dear to my heart - but at best morally dubious unless you embrace some kind of philosophical software communism... 'information wants to be free')..."
Perhaps you should read Against Intellectual Property, a paper that uses capitalist property rights to delegitimize IP.
Commenting by HaloScan
