Ask HN: Could Copyright/Trademark Law Limit the Effects of Automation?

Okay, this is probably a really crazy thought. So if I come across as a tad insane, I apologise for that. But I've been thinking about automation, AI and what jobs might be safe from it. And do you know what? I think IP laws may be a way to safeguard artists from robot competition. Think about it. If you're the creator of a webcomic that's got a few hundred thousand regular readers, they likely don't care if your comic is objectively the 'best' comic possible. They care about the brand and universe it creates. So AI can never replace you there. You don't give it the rights to use your work, so assuming your brand doesn't lose all its popularity, you're never out of a job. And in theory, the same could go for a lot of other creative jobs too. If a large IP's owner doesn't want to use AI to create it (and keeps on the artists, writers, voice actors, etc) then they're probably not going to lose their jobs to automation. Even if a robot can create the best art ever, it cannot use say, the Star Wars or Harry Potter or James Bond license to do so. So it'll likely just get flattened at the box office/on distribution platforms. Same goes in the gaming world, where something like Mario or Halo or Pokemon or Call of Duty is probably going to beat the crap out of the less well known AI created brand regardless of how good it is. So what do you think?