Independent Artists are not working class. They do not get paid in wages and they control the means of production. They are petit-bourgeoise.
This might be technically true but saying this as an excuse to why its ok for corporations to plagiarize from independent artists is like actually horrific. (And its vaguely shitty though not as bad to use it as an excuse for why its ok for individuals to plagiarize from independent artists).
Like I’m sorry I know that technically under the terms definition an independent artist barely scrapping by on a handful of commissions or patreons who struggles as much as any minimum wage worker to make ends meet is as “petite-bourgiouse” as a jetski dealer who lives comfortably. But there are two things I gather from that
Them technically falling under the same umbrella doesn’t excuse treating them the same because the material conditions they are facing are different. One is clearly vulnerable to exploitation, the other simply isnt in the same way.
Honestly? We probably need new terms if these two things fit the same definition as the definition currently stands, because they are materially different in so many ways. I refuse to be a slave to Marxist definitions as they currently stand if they cease to be useful to describe our material reality, and I’d say this is a pretty clear case of them not productively describing our material reality.
Intellectual property is bullshit as a concept but under capitalism independent artists are vulnerable and exploited and should be protected from plagiarism. Particularly in the case of a bigger fish being the plagiarizer, whether that bigger fish be AI companies or situations like James Sommerton plagiarizing smaller creators.
This might be technically true but saying this as an excuse to why its ok for corporations to plagiarize from independent artists is like actually horrific.
Being happy that your enemy (capitalists) are hurting a fence sitter (artists) is not horrific. Call me an accelerationist if you like but I don’t think having a bunch of artists that are pissed off at the capitalist world order is a bad thing. On the contrary if the people who make entertainment and art are comfortable and content with secure jobs they will actively work to maintain the status quo.
Intellectual property is bullshit as a concept but under capitalism independent artists are vulnerable and exploited and should be protected from plagiarism.
Why? All professions are equal from janitors to doctors to teachers to miners to ditch diggers. Saying that artists are special and deserve protection from automation, which no other profession has, is silly. Nearly every other profession has been through the same struggles that artists are going through. Artists are lucky it took this long for their job to be automated. Why should anyone be protected from the ravages of capitalism if we are not all protected? Demanding that a single niche profession should be spared from being subjected to the suffering caused by class war is a weird ideological brain worm with no materialist basis. That is not working class solidarity that is Arts worker supremacy.
I’m not going to respond to most of this because its just completly misguided but I did want to zero in on probably the worst part.
if the people who make entertainment and art are comfortable and content with secure jobs
Are you under the impression that the majority of artists are currently in this position lol? Like is that where your brain is broken on this issue you think most people who draw or write for a living are comfortable?
“misguided” You just refuse to face the fact that you are putting arts workers on a pedestal separate from the rest of the working class. They don’t deserve job security more than anyone else and they aren’t being threatened more than any other workers.
if the people who make entertainment and art are comfortable and content with secure jobs
This was said as an extreme end on a sliding scale. It is not my view of how things currently are. Its true of all people the more comfortable they are the less revolutionary potential they have.
Its pretty telling that the only argument you choose to discuss is an argument I wasn’t making.
This might be technically true but saying this as an excuse to why its ok for corporations to plagiarize from independent artists is like actually horrific. (And its vaguely shitty though not as bad to use it as an excuse for why its ok for individuals to plagiarize from independent artists).
Like I’m sorry I know that technically under the terms definition an independent artist barely scrapping by on a handful of commissions or patreons who struggles as much as any minimum wage worker to make ends meet is as “petite-bourgiouse” as a jetski dealer who lives comfortably. But there are two things I gather from that
Intellectual property is bullshit as a concept but under capitalism independent artists are vulnerable and exploited and should be protected from plagiarism. Particularly in the case of a bigger fish being the plagiarizer, whether that bigger fish be AI companies or situations like James Sommerton plagiarizing smaller creators.
Being happy that your enemy (capitalists) are hurting a fence sitter (artists) is not horrific. Call me an accelerationist if you like but I don’t think having a bunch of artists that are pissed off at the capitalist world order is a bad thing. On the contrary if the people who make entertainment and art are comfortable and content with secure jobs they will actively work to maintain the status quo.
Why? All professions are equal from janitors to doctors to teachers to miners to ditch diggers. Saying that artists are special and deserve protection from automation, which no other profession has, is silly. Nearly every other profession has been through the same struggles that artists are going through. Artists are lucky it took this long for their job to be automated. Why should anyone be protected from the ravages of capitalism if we are not all protected? Demanding that a single niche profession should be spared from being subjected to the suffering caused by class war is a weird ideological brain worm with no materialist basis. That is not working class solidarity that is Arts worker supremacy.
I’m not going to respond to most of this because its just completly misguided but I did want to zero in on probably the worst part.
Are you under the impression that the majority of artists are currently in this position lol? Like is that where your brain is broken on this issue you think most people who draw or write for a living are comfortable?
“misguided” You just refuse to face the fact that you are putting arts workers on a pedestal separate from the rest of the working class. They don’t deserve job security more than anyone else and they aren’t being threatened more than any other workers.
This was said as an extreme end on a sliding scale. It is not my view of how things currently are. Its true of all people the more comfortable they are the less revolutionary potential they have.
Its pretty telling that the only argument you choose to discuss is an argument I wasn’t making.