follow-up
So my post (which is reposted down there) got a comment, and while I'm not feeling like pulling an elf assassin*, the reply shows that a number of points in my message weren't expressed clearly enough.
1. WRONG: "I also limit my comments to whether a donation button is professional. I agree that lots of webcomics may be produced in a highly professional manner, but may still need a donate button."
"Professional manner" in fucking ART doesn't exist. Dominic Deegan is a pile of turds and the author makes money off it. The Admiral Zhao comic by NoSelfControl is a fantastic fan comic. Just so you know, NoSelfControl was an artist on Avatar: the Last Airbender, the very same show she based her comic on.
"Professional work" means you pay your bills doing it, and expect to pay your bills doing it for quite some time. It doesn't matter how well you do it, because everything sells, it's a question of marketing. Pranksters are sending "manuscripts" of critically acclaimed novels to publishers and they get rejected on the grounds of extreme suckitude.
EVERYTHING SELLS. There's a cockbag who takes pics of ads, auctions them off and exhibits them in galleries. Yes, go out, take a pic of a billboard, sell it for a million. Say, the Harry Potter movie came out (even I know it did, although I can't stress how much of not a fan I am). Get a camera, take a pic of a movie poster, retouch it a bit and SELL PRINTS without paying a cent to the 'rights holder(s). WORKS FOR HIM. MIND BLOWN.
2. WRONG: "Nobody who is professionally selling a product solicits charitable donations from the consumer."
Fuck you, and go suck a barrel of cocks. You don't get to define "professional" as "people who don't accept donations" and proceed from there. Your circular argument is going to come back and bite you in the ass one day.
And another dose of shit from that dude: "professionally making" and "professionally selling" are two different beasts.
"Professionally making" means you get paid for making stuff.
"Professionally selling" means you get paid for selling stuff.
Don't fucking confuse these two things to obscure your retarded idea so that no one notices it's retarded. Dude.
Now, there's the behavior which is often termed "professional": adhering to existent business practices and not breaking the law. The origin of the term is clear: if you don't adhere to existent business practices and/or break the law, you stand to lose the job and therefore cease being "professional". Sohmer prides himself on updating on time - good for him.
3. WRONG: "The point is that their work has a value, negotiated with or imposed on the buyer, and that value, once set, must be paid."
I don't even know what to say. Sohmer posts a free comic and asks to buy merch. The value (surely you mean PRICE, you fucktard) of the comic is ZERO. Sohmer sends out emails - emails, man! - asking to buy his books, because it's really important for them that you support the artists of a free comic by purchasing books.
THIS. IS. DONATIONS. Laundered donations - or, rather, soiled, because now he *has* to pay taxes.
Also, what about the ads? "Must be paid", huh? Am I breaking the law by blocking advertising?
Oh, and to prove i didn't rip the quotes out of context, here's the original message.
Okay, the follow-up original will be "Mercedes Lackey is retarded". Because she is. I'm taking part in this year's NaNo, and the dumb bitch was giving a pep talk. I mean, it's fine if you, personally, confuse plagiarism and copyright infringement, because you aren't required to know legalese (unless you're a lawyer, in which case you are, and it's not fine). It's fine even if you're a writer. But if you're speaking publicly and from a lofty vantage point, DERPING IS NOT ALLOWED. Don't give advice if you don't know shit. Oh, and NEWSFLASH for the bitch: Halloween is over, stop roleplaying a retarded little sister of David Mamet, because he doesn't have a retarded little sister.
*
От фразы моего слишком-знаменитого-чтобы-упоминать знакомого: "Гильдия эльфов-асассинов: принимают заказ и ждут...."
Метод "победы" в онлайн-дискуссии, где темы не бампаются от новых сообщений: подожди неделю, потом запости "мегаразгромный" ответ - последнее "победное" слово останется за тобой.