"But we can't pay you."

One of our state's indigenous artists has been causing headlines because the Flying Kangaroo airline (Qantas) asked her to do some design work - and then told her that, instead of paying her as such, they would "give her tickets and...." She refused to do the work and demanded an apology.
She was totally within her rights to do that. It certainly isn't going to do her career any harm.
Unfortunately if she had not been an indigenous artist there would have been no story and the artist would have found it difficult to get another commission anywhere. It's the way the system works.
    "Being an artist isn't work," I was told once, "You just have fun painting all day."
And we all know that being an author isn't work. You just sit down and write. Musicians don't need to practice. They just go and play their instrument. What is more we don't need to pay such people for talking about doing these things. It really isn't important. They like what they do so much that there isn't any need to give them any sort of financial recompense.
Yes, we have all heard that one before - often. We have heard it too many times.
And then there is something else that happens....and should not happen. The artists, writers, musicians and other craftspeople get asked to "teach" these skills to other people...often under the same terms. "We can't pay you but..."
I have been thinking about this recently. Someone I know was letting me know they were not pleased by a decision I had made - a decision not to teach until a situation has changed.
    "But you have to Cat. You are the one who knows more than anyone else..."  Flattery? Hardly. She has never said it before and will almost certainly never say it again. Her only concern was that the group has lost the services of someone they didn't need to pay.
As I said recently and elsewhere in this blog I do think that being part of a group means that you need to actively participate - but it doesn't mean you need to do it for nothing. Payment inside a group can take many forms but one thing is essential - and that is to be treated with common courtesy. 
I might well know more than anyone else in the group about some things. There are other people who will know more than me about other things. If still others want us to impart that knowledge then they need to pay us with, at very least, everyday courtesies. 
Sadly I know that we, and not those failing to show common courtesies, will be treated as being the ones at fault. It is rare that real value is placed on the services of those who are perceived as  doing something which is considered by others as "simply having fun". 
If someone makes it appear easy then you can be sure they have had to spend many hours learning how to do it. Pay them.