Probably shouldn’t admit this since I’m Chinese, and this is Substack where artists and writers are furious about it in general and about the specific case with Maalvika plagiarizing Katie Jgln—-but I personally don’t care about cheating, plagiarism, copyright, IP, etc. No affect. Emotionally flat.

I understand why people care, I support others’ quests to protect their work, I Live Laugh Love when frauds and cheaters are exposed, and Thou Shalt Not Steal and all…but this is one of those things where I personally struggle to feel discomfort over, much less outrage.

Maybe it’s personality and upbringing. Growing up, practically everything I listened to/watched/read was pirated. To this day, I’m still fond of Sci-hub and Anna’s Archive, both of which are pretty cut and dried illegal. These days I tend towards physical books, but as a matter of personal preference, not as a moral stance. I also get a small thrill from web scraping, which can get legally dicey. Scratches the shape-rotator part of my mostly wordcel brain.

This attitude extends to own stuff, too. A few of my artworks have gone viral in the past, and some people reposted pieces to their Instagram without credit. Others traced/copied my work and called it their own. In almost all cases, I shrugged. Once, I asked someone to link back to me please. They ignored me. Eh, whatever. They can have their likes and comments.

Maybe I’d be pissed if people profited off my work. But I still doubt it. I’ve never valued money that way. And I’m lucky to make great money, so I’m not dependent on creative work to survive. So if someone sold my art or writing, I think I’d feel excited. It would be proof I’m making something valuable.

So I can excuse stealing, but I draw the line at hypocrisy!

Jokes aside, this is probably a growth area for me. I can’t force myself to feel what I don’t feel, but I’m starting to explore this area intellectually. For instance, plagiarism was framed to me recently as a free speech issue. Novel idea! I care deeply about free speech, so by transitive property…I care about plagiarism?

If you’ve got other interesting ideas, I’m more than all ears.