Do ideas have still a value in the era of copyleft?

Nintendo seems to think yes, so much that is forbidding his best videogame designer to speak publicly about his own hobbies...in order not to give hints to the competition. The world of new electronics arts says the opposite in the name of copyleft and open source...which relation in reality i don't see. The idea of who invented a software etc. has a value indipendently from his-her decision to allow the public to use it for free.
Who do you prefer? The one that gives value to ideas or who doesn't.
The reality of it it's rather simple if you have the money to bring to life the ideas than the latters are valuable, if you don't than, what happens then?