#aftra strike

[gay-jewish-bucky]

i miss "filler" episodes

i miss when television seasons were longer

i miss seeing character development that made their arcs make sense

i miss shows flowing at a natural pace instead of constantly being bombarded with high stakes conflicts

i miss seeing my fave characters exist in situations that aren't essential to the plot

i miss when ceos didn't cut the amount of episodes in half to maximize profit and minimize how much they have to pay to the people (actors, writers, editors, vfx, crew, hair & makeup artists, costumers and many more) who's blood sweat and tears make them rich

[kylacxie]

New updates on the SAG-AFTRA strike!

Source

[ramblesandrambling]

In case we forget what else is going on while we watch our season finale

[derogatoryapparently]

From Sebastian's insta. They're such adorable angels 🥰

[chirpsythismorning]

A federal judge on Friday upheld a finding from the U.S. Copyright Office that a piece of art created by AI is not open to protection. The ruling was delivered in an order turning down Stephen Thaler’s bid challenging the government’s position refusing to register works made by AI. Copyright law has “never stretched so far” to “protect works generated by new forms of technology operating absent any guiding human hand,” U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell found.

Yes, obviously.

How could AI created art be copyrighted if it's just literally a conglomerate of work that in many cases is already copyrighted?

This means the studios would presumably not be able to copyright their content, in the case that they use AI generated scripts for example, as those scripts would have depended on stolen work to begin with.

[gaymer-hag-stan]

So the video game industry is joining the strike

Can y'all STOP using dumb AI shit? It's not even worth it.

Use it for good causes like writing boring corporate emails or CVS, leave the entertainment part out so that it can be actually... entertaining!

[prettyboychik]

did anything ever happen with the tree law stuff and the strike? like when universal trimmed the trees that the protesters were going to use for shade? can’t find info anywhere

[tuttle-did-it]

National Book Foundation, I don't have twitter to tell you thank you for rescinding your invitation to Drew Barrymore as a host for your ceremony. She is scabbing, and must be held accountable. Thank you for standing with the unions.

Heartbroken, as Drew is one of the few people in Hollywood who had my respect and I didn't have anything bad to say about her.

[thatseventiesbitch]

That '90s Show cast (and production) on the picket line! ✊🏻

[probablyasocialecologist]

According to Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the national executive director of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) labor union, actors made a median salary of $46,960 in 2021. Michelle Manos, cofounder and executive director of the Community Solidarity Project, told Los Angeles’s KTLA that 80% of the union’s card-carrying members make less than $26,000 per year — which is beneath the threshold they need to meet to qualify for the union’s health care plan. To put that in even clearer perspective, in California, where many actors and screenwriters live and work, the annual poverty line is about $36,900 for a family of four. Meanwhile, Hollywood executives, like Disney CEO Bob Iger, make millions. Iger has reportedly received a compensation package of $27 million a year, and has gone on record saying the striking workers are “not realistic” for wanting their demands met. This situation impacts actors at all stages of their career. In July, Mara Wilson, who shot to fame in the 1990s as a child star in Mrs. Doubtfire and Matilda, shared that she has “never once made enough to qualify for SAG-AFTRA health care.” Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney got dragged last year after she said in an interview that she wouldn’t be able to afford her life in LA if she didn’t take brand deals. But Sweeney's comments have since helped illustrate the state of the industry for even a booked and busy working actor. A 2019 study from Nature Communications journal pointed out that “unemployment rates [for] actors hover around 90%, and that as low as 2% of actors are able to make a living out of acting.” Sweeney told the Hollywood Reporter, “They don’t pay actors like they used to, and with streamers, you no longer get [substantial] residuals.” That latter point is a major factor behind the current WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, both with memberships that are fighting for their rightful slice of the pie.

[singing-a-reckless-serenade]

Context: the latest updates continue to be depressing and not surprising.

[gay-jewish-bucky]

Actual footage of the Universal Studios* CEO "trimming" all of the shade trees at one of the L.A. WGA/SAG-AFTRA picket locations, so strikers have no protection from the intense heat of the sun

(*production company behind 2012's tumblr hit film The Lorax)

[sothisisablog]

[very-uncorrect]

Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes

[derogatoryapparently]

Oh, Misha. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CAS!!!

[thrxughthenxght]

US Major Step In Fight Between AI vs. Artists

So, we all know that a bunch of the creator strikes in America and a multitude of other countries associated with WGA and AFTRA have been for a multitude of different reasons. These are money, treatment, being taken advantage of by powerful companies and corporations. However, one big reason, specifically for the WGA Strike, is the use of AI. Companies and show creators in the industries refused to agree to not use AI prior to the strike, and this became one of the listed reasons the WGA Strike started.

Those of us who are content creators, artists of any media, and consumers of that media who spend time in those communities know that there are a lot of problems with this. For one thing, AI steals from works that have already been created. It also isn't actually AI, just machine learning. These co-exist to mean that if someone creates work with AI, there is no argument without rebuttal to be made that they aren't stealing or committing plagiarism. Another issue with AI is that it is extremely biased and is both socially and culturally harmful.

This is a photo created by a man named Matthew Allen using Midjourney AI and editing tools.

The photo above was AI generated. However, it still won an art contest at the Colorado State Fair. This is despicable in its own right but that's a whole different thing that we don't have time for right now. Matthew Allen was denied to have his work allowed Copyright protection because it was AI generated.

This is an image generated by a man named Stephen Phaler that was also denied copy rights.

This was made by Stephen Phaler, who also tried to make the case that his work was copyrightable. The court ruled against him, another promising sign for the creator community. This means that despite making his own AI Art system, he's works with it are still not protected. The software is his, but the art is not.

This is a major step in taking action against AI in courts. We need laws against AI to protect creators, because many of these efforts to do so have so far been unsuccessful through strikes and protests. All in good time, but for this is beacon of hope for us.

Not only have regular people who are unaware or refuse to acknowledge the harm of AI been using it, but people in academics have also used AI to do their work or assignments for them. Artists, writers, and musicians have been more hesitant to post their work because of AI algorithms stealing from them. If you look on AO3, any fandom, any type of work, you'll notice a large spike in restricted fics. This is because it's harder for AI to steal when only users with registered accounts can view many of the sites works due to restricted access.

The refusal of a federal judge in the U.S against AI is so undeniably important because not only will it hopefully prevent future AI users from making money off other people's work, but it's also a better way to spread words. Not everyone had Tumblr, or Twitter, or Reddit, or Facebook where you might hear about the dangers of AI and the algorithm only feeds you certain posts and things it thinks you want to see. Actually taking a legal stance against AI use and forcing restrictions is an excellent way to draw attention to the dangers of AI.

You'll also note there's various signs that a piece of artwork or writing was made with AI, for it lacks humanity. There's a post that said something alone the likes of, "Calling yourself an artist when you use AI Art is like buying box mix brownies and calling yourself a chef". This is one of the best examples of how ridiculous the use of AI art in genuine creative processes' are. It's not modernizing, it's theft and it's dishonest and lazy. You're not doing the work yourself, you're typing words and descriptions into a computer so it can do all the heavy lifting. That is horrible and dishonest.

Ultimately this post is about how we need more of this. We need it in other counties, we need to support our WGA and AFTRA strikes, we need to protect online and local creators who may not have as much voice when speaking out against AI. This includes famous, big names as well. This is all a positive step forward, and I encourage everyone to spread the word. Thank you for reading.

Tagging some mutuals who might be interested, but no pressure to reblog guys <3: @iammadeofmemoriesforlife @justanormaldemon @violets-and-books @rinadragomir @laylax13s @all-this-panic-still-no-disco @wesperbrekkered @grace-lightwoodd