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    MrMirabelleButtersfieldRachel Vorona Cote
    3/22/16 9:31am

    Isn’t “slavery” (of a kind) what this is all about, though? Forcing Kesha to work against her will, bound by a contract entered into under false pretenses (Dr. Luke has my best interests at heart / is not a rapist) is a kind of enslavement. She is being treated as this man’s legal property.

    If your argument is “This is a multimillion dollar recording contract!” the first definition of slavery says nothing about whether the slave is paid or not and the second suggests “without proper renumeration or appreciation.”

    I get that the word is loaded; I get that you can’t say it without alluding to the African slave trade. But the word has a purpose and a function to describe things outside that cultural baggage it carries. And to me this seems like an appropriate time to use it.

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      "Because Old Hobbits Die Hard" was the punchline, JuliaMrMirabelleButtersfield
      3/22/16 9:51am

      Oy, she is not a victim of slavery. She is a victim of a patriarchal arrangement; she is a victim of capitalism, which values ownership and propriety over labor. She is not anyone’s legal property, to be bought and sold, in the same manner as slaves. She receives remuneration for her labor, and was given the right to bargain for that remuneration. We really ought to reserve the term slavery for the people who are bought and sold, entitled to absolutely no benefit from their productivity.

      By using the term “slavery”, we dismiss the horrors of real slavery and we ignore the problems of capitalism: The same capitalism that everyone seems to enjoy which actually allowed this to happen. We need to give workers and legal complainants the right to free association and uninhibited bargaining rights. It’s a concrete solution. Suggesting that solving Kesha’s problem—horrible as it is—is an effort to “end slavery”? It’s just not right.

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      CNicRouteMrMirabelleButtersfield
      3/22/16 9:52am

      I think the sticking point here, besides the word’s connotations, is that she technically does have forms of recourse - I mean the very fact that she has a lawyer and is capable of suing him sort of precludes her from being a slave. Not liking an outcome and not having the means to fight for an outcome other than slavery are not the same thing.

      She has options outside of, you know, death.

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    norbiznessRachel Vorona Cote
    3/22/16 9:30am

    It sounds on the up and up to me, after all many people sold at family-sundering auctions to work in brutal conditions and be killed for trying to escape just didn’t read the fine print before voluntarily signing up.

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      weebleswobblenorbizness
      3/22/16 9:37am

      She’s both allowed to leave (by buying out her own contract) and not being forced to work (she can choose either to not work or to work with someone who is not Dr. Luke but is on his label). Her situation is horrible and unacceptable, but slavery it is not.

      The lawyer’s statement is most definitely not on the up and up.

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      I'm Fart and I'm Smunnyweebleswobble
      3/22/16 9:49am

      Her lawyer is notoriously horrible. He somehow thought it would be a good idea to claim Dr. Luke was the one who raped Lady Gaga. He also just let Sony get away with switching shit up on the spot and saying that they have always said Kesha can record with someone else (a blatant lie). No surprise he would stoop this low and potentially fuck up her case.

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    sybannRachel Vorona Cote
    3/22/16 10:27am

    The only way this could cause Sony “irreparable harm” is that if every other artist used the case to get out of their contractual obligations. Which might happen if they’re as bad an employer as I suspect.

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      PumpkinSpiessybann
      3/22/16 12:53pm

      Maybe from now on they need to put in a “don’t rape, drug, or otherwise abuse your protégé” clause in their contracts.

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      sybannPumpkinSpies
      3/22/16 12:58pm

      Sadly, maybe they should.

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    ILikeThunderstormsRachel Vorona Cote
    3/22/16 9:26am

    Hey, at least this use of the shitty “XYZ is as bad as slavery” trope, while inappropriate, is still closer to the truth than any comparison any presidential candidate (Ben Carson comes to mind) has ever made!

    Regardless, #FreeKesha. Also fuck Dr. Luke and fuck terrorism and this shitty day.

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      BitchSwanRachel Vorona Cote
      3/22/16 9:25am

      How to lose goodwill and alienate allies.

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        I'm Fart and I'm SmunnyRachel Vorona Cote
        3/22/16 9:40am

        I think they are just trying to use dramatic terms so people will see she is being forced to work in an environment that is harmful to her and will probably end her career. She is technically being forced to work with these people against her will, but comparing it to slavery seems like it would backfire and make her look like she is overreacting. Also, her lawyer has been terrible this entire time so let’s not blame Kesha for him being so awful.

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          "Because Old Hobbits Die Hard" was the punchline, JuliaRachel Vorona Cote
          3/22/16 9:38am

          ‘you can’t force someone to work...in a situation in which they don’t want to work,’

          Well, unfortunately, this is exactly what contracts and salaries are designed to do. They remove the autonomy of the worker to seek better wages or conditions. They’re basically the end result of a system which favors capital over labor. It’s a system we routinely defend, for its ability to allow workers to occasionally earn slightly more, while never providing them ownership over the businesses they create.

          That said, none of this is tantamount to slavery. I read an article here a few months ago that suggested eating meat was as bad as slavery; a thinkpiece surely devised after the blogger’s yoga regimen was complete but before her cucumber-yogurt cleanse had begun. White people really wanna get some value out of this slavery comparison, but nothing can actually compare.

          “Slavery was done away with a long time ago,”

          Another Western sentiment, oozing with the privilege of wealthy ignorance.

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            SL8Rgirl81Rachel Vorona Cote
            3/22/16 10:38am

            this isn’t slavery, it’s a shitty contract that she signed.

            I wish she could get out of it and away from her abuser, but to compare it to slavery isn’t fair or in any way accurate. If you need to compare it to something, compare it to trying to get away from an abusive ex.

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              Sagitt1984Rachel Vorona Cote
              3/22/16 11:09am

              Just to put this out here: these type of contract disputes happen all the time within the rap industry. Artists and musicians sign these contracts when they first get famous, and then try to get out of them once their fame has been established, or once their careers hit a Slowdown.. these artists are subject to the same sort of “slavery”, are often financially and sexually taken advantage of, if not by The producers, then by hired Women Within the industry, they are kept drug addicted and ignorant to real world happening.... when the social justice Warriors start clamoring about what happens to young black men within the music industry, maybe Kesha’s temper tantrum will seem that much more reasonable to me.

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                whyorwhynotSagitt1984
                3/22/16 11:51am

                Recording contracts are unfair to everyone. They make it easy for people with power to abuse and exploit others and make it almost impossible for the victim to leave the situation. None of those young black men you speak of has filed a lawsuit like this which is why their plight isn’t getting attention. Kesha’s “temper tantrum” as you ignorantly and childishly call it may actually help other exploited young artists if a court decides that these contracts are abusive and exploitative and cross the line legally. It takes one person to bring about change in the system. Maybe Kesha’s “temper tantrum” will be the catalyst for change and future singers and rappers won’t have to worry about being subjected to years of abuse and exploitation they can’t escape from.

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                Sagitt1984whyorwhynot
                3/22/16 12:19pm

                If the contract itself was exploitative and abusive, this would be a totally different situation, and perhaps helpful to other young artists. What Kesha is doing, because she realizes that there’s no legal recourse to get rid of her contract is to try to make it look like the other party was doing something illegal.

                If dr. Luke did something, then by all means bring his ass down, but you got to do it the legal way, and something tells me that Kesha has no legal recourse. At least nothing that would void a contract.

                If I sign a contract with a recording company, or a producer, and later on I want that contract voided because I claim that they were racist towards me, don’t you think at the very minimum I should be able to provide evidence of their racism, especially if I’m looking to have a legal document voided ? Or should I just be able to say take my word for it ?

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