Courtney Love hit the nail on the head years and years ago:
https://www.gerryhemingway.com/piracy

> Today I want to talk about piracy and music. What is piracy? Piracy is the act of stealing an artist's work without any intention of paying for it. I'm not talking about Napster-type software. I'm talking about major label recording contracts.

Now the same companies that had cried "protect the artists!" to extend copyright over and over again are salivating at the thought of replacing artists with software.

Artists now realize they had signed the rights to their own work over to middlemen, who use that very work to try replacing them.

When they signed these contracts, often years ago, there was no talk of "AIs" able to "generate content". That was not even on the horizon.

"We have altered the deal. Pray we don't alter it any further."

Would they have signed these contracts if that was clearly stated in the terms? Well, if the WGA strike is any indication, I'd wager a bet the answer is "no".

I hope this becomes a wake-up call to all #artists, to all creative people out there — a wake-up call not just about #AI and automatically generated content, but also, and more importantly, about how urgently we need solid #copyright reform.

We had been needing it for decades, in fact.

#Art is not supposed to be hoarded by Disneys or Sonys, not supposed to be locked in corporate vaults. Art is more than just means of "maximizaing shareholder value".

#Artists cannot be replaced by some software. But it will take corporate execs a few years to learn it the hard way.

Meanwhile, artists will be hurting, bad. They will need our support — they always did!

So support them directly, if you can. Boost their toots on here, buy their merch, donate to them via whatever means they accept, or just send in a good word.

♦️♦️♦️

As this seems to be blowing up, a call to #art: this is now a "share your art" thread. I shall boost, if alt-text is provided. 💜

@DanielTuttle obviously there is not going to be a silver bullet.

Regarding AI, making clear these are derivative works would be a good step. Regarding the broader issue, I would want to see Disney, Sony, Amazon et al being treated like the oligopolists they are, with some anti-trust action happening.

I would like to see the concept of "moral rights", in some form, having a bit more weight.

The incentives and risks are currently completely upside-down. More power needed for the artists.

@DanielTuttle ideas like Philippe Aigrain's (from "Culture and the Economy in the Internet Age") are definitely worth considering.

I need to read R. Giblin's and C. Doctorow's "Chokepoint Capitalism" finally. From what I heard (including on a lecture by them), there are some concrete ideas there.

But the bottom line is: we need a different model, as the current model of making sure artists get paid is being completely played by a few oligopolists.

I do wonder what your thoughts are, though!

@DanielTuttle based on the history of the Statute of Anne, arguably the first copyright law on this green Earth, I would argue that the original intent was always the same: protecting the middlemen, and using artists' rights as a convenient excuse.

I do believe, however, that laws are what we make of them, and if artists decided they won't take it anymore and denied the middlemen that excuse, copyright could be reformed in ways useful and helpful to independent artists.