[the_cat_kittles]

do drug smugglers deserve millions?

do cheating athletes who aren't caught deserve millions?

do patent trolls deserve millions?

do televangelists deserve millions?

do oil and mining companies that destroy the environment deserve millions?

[averagewall]

These are different problems. We're talking about authors and artists here. How and why should authors be paid for producing work that nobody wants? Should somebody else pay authors to pursue their hobby even when it doesn't provide much value to others?

[the_cat_kittles]

i agree its hard to know what to pay. but i think you would rather have a contented artist producing work that you were indifferent to, than a highly paid patent troll, right?

[flukus]

They are all producing something people are willing to pay for.

[tormeh]

That's an argument against basing compensation on what people are willing to pay for.