“We Are the World” 3?
The U.S. has backed a World Trade Organization (WTO) proposal to temporarily suspend intellectual property rights for the COVID-19 vaccination. This has come after weeks of pushback against the proposal by many industries, some more surprising than others. Lee Fang of The Intercept reported that Hollywood has been actively lobbying against this proposed waiver.
Despite there being language in the proposed waiver draft that specifically excludes the wholly amazing pop culture products of our current entertainment industry, organizations like the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) have come out against it. According to Neil Turkewitz, a former RIAA official, this waiver that will not apply to the entertainment industry should be opposed because it is only being done for some stupid reason called justice.
Hollywood, however, doesn’t just plan to sit back and watch another tragedy unfold without making it known to the world that they really care about it. Despite that time a bunch of people secure in their mansions sang “Imagine” to people who probably lost income needed to pay rent at the outset of COVID-19 and that other time they took responsibility for microaggressions in the midst of a movement about police reform, one Hollywood executive thinks the third time’s the charm.
“Those things were a failure because it just didn’t have the production value,” they said. “This time we’ll go big and get it right. I think some have floated a ‘We Are the World’ sort of thing for India. Who knows though?”
This executive continued, “Nobody really asked ‘The Industry’ to get involved in this waiver fight, but we decided to make sure that these people weighing actual concerns of this waiver’s effectiveness think about us too when considering this matter that won’t affect us.”
Currently, the scope of this project is undecided and on hold after the Biden Administration’s announcement. At the moment, it is titled Very Important Responsibility to Together Unite Everybody, Save International Great Neighbors and Allies, and Lead International and National Growth (VIRTUE SIGNALING).
Written By: Ean Kimura — etkimura@ucdavis.edu
Disclaimer: (This article is humor and/or satire, and its content is purely fictional. The story and/or names of “sources” are fictionalized.)
