Pluralistic: IP can't save you from AI (18 Aug 2026)

Cory Doctorow argues that expanding copyright is a “losing strategy” for creative workers against AI, as it fails to provide leverage, primarily benefits media bosses, and cannot substitute for robust labor and privacy rights.
He contends that copyright, framed as an “artist’s right,” has historically failed to protect creative workers’ livelihoods due to the monopolized “creative industries” and the “LLC with an MFA” fallacy, leading to “richer bosses, and poorer artists” despite copyright expansion.
The recent sale of Spirit Airlines’ employee data to Google for AI training, despite workers holding copyright on their “works made for hire,” exemplifies how copyright fails to protect personal information. This highlights the urgent need for strong labor rights (like “sectoral bargaining,” as demonstrated by the Writers Guild’s success against AI) and comprehensive privacy laws.
Creative workers should abandon the pursuit of more copyright, which their bosses also desire, and instead unite with all workers and consumers to demand systemic changes through labor and privacy rights to effectively counter AI’s threat to wages and personal data.