A lot of the points you are making seem to be for art tests in general. Are any of these points enough to warrant not paying an artist for their time if they've gotten this far in the selection process?
From my personal perspective:
I don't expect to be paid for everything I do, especially not a test.
When I give people tests I don't pay them.
In general:
Tests can be poorly designed.
Or intentionally designed to rip people off.
Random rumor:
I've heard some stories about 5th Cell, local studio in my area, flying in "unpaid intern artists" with a "chance of employment" after evaluation from other states.
The evaluation period lasted a month or so, during which they were put to work on a current project.
Then when it was over they were not given an offer for further employment, in which case most flew home.
The programmers on the team watched this happen over and over, while the CEO would chuckle and brag about how much money they were saving.
Is that true?
I dunno maybe.
Point being, that's a really terrible test.
I think unless a test is intentionally approaching that type of crazy, even if poorly designed, is totally valid to be given and taken without compensation.
A few hours of time is definitely valuable, and I can understand the feeling of it being wasted.
But I don't think that always equates to money.
I'm not trying to be right here, there isn't much to prove.
I could just be rationalizing how I feel about money so that I am not dissapointed.
Oh you'll pay me for this test? --> excellent
Oh you won't pay me for this test? --> excellent
It's really up to you to decide how you want to feel about it.
If you find it necessary to negotiate payment for a test, go for it.
It could potentially be a mistake to accept an offer without having a say in it.
Also I think hourly and per asset payment are very counter productive to creative process and tend to make everyone involved unhappy.
And with that sort of view, I think tests fall outside of work.
I don't think putting other people's artwork that you've edited, even if the edit is super-extensive is professional or even a good idea in a sneaky sense since you wouldn't be able to reproduce that style readily if that's what you're hired for. I hope I haven't misunderstood and that's what Ryu is talking about.
Disagree, depending on context.
I put edits on my blog in a separate tab, but present them as what they are.
http://kirkbarnett.blogspot.com/p/edits.htmlThere's actually a few in other tabs I need to move there.