There actually is a lot of precedent for that with bitcoins, the court recognized that bitcoins have value in the Shavers case as well as in the Silk Road cases. Moreover, they fit the test for having value, you can't get them for free or at will, right?
Sorry, I hadn't seen the case notes...I tend not to read the court rulings of jurisdictions other than the one I live in since they don't apply to me...bitcoins still don't count as money where I am. However, I should have done wider ranging research before spouting off on the subject in as general terms as I did - apologies.
At another tangent, it's interesting that you frame the bitcoin value question in terms of *getting* bitcoins; I contend that the question should be framed the other way round...what real, tangible goods and services can you get with bitcoins. The answer, of course, is that with at least a few retailers willing to accept bitcoins for the things that they sell, bitcoins do have demonstrable value in the 'real' world.
And to be slightly controversial, picking up on your proposition, it is arguably the case that you *can* get bitcoins for 'free' by mining them, I.e. you can get bitcoins without having to exchange anything (fiat currency, real world goods, etc) with any other individual or organisation. That is not to say that mining bitcoins is not without cost, I.e. computer hardware, electricity, etc. but it doesn't necessarily mean that their value to anyone else is even equal to the cost of producing them.