Arts, creative and media groups have demanded the government rule out allowing big tech companies to take Australian content to train their artificial intelligence models, with concerns such a shift would “sell out” Australian workers and lead to “rampant theft” of intellectual property.
The Albanese government has said it has no plans to change copyright law, but any changes must consider effects on artists and news media. The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, has demanded that copyrighted material must not be used without compensation.
“It is not appropriate for big tech to steal the work of Australian artists, musicians, creators, news media, journalism, and use it for their own ends without paying for it,” Ley said on Wednesday.
In an interim report on “harnessing data and digital technology”, the Productivity Commission set out proposals for how tech including AI could be regulated and treated in Australia, suggesting it could boost productivity by between 0.5% and 13% over the next decade, adding up to $116bn to Australia’s GDP.
The report said building AI models required large amounts of data, and several stakeholders in the field, including Creative Australia and the Copyright Agency, had “expressed concern about the unauthorised use of copyrighted materials to train AI models”.
The PC suggested several possible remedies, including expanding licensing schemes, or an exemption for “text and data mining” and expanding the existing fair dealing rules, which the commission said existed in other countries.
The latter suggestion prompted fierce pushback from arts, creative and media companies, which raised alarm their work could be left open for massively wealthy tech companies to use – without compensation or payment – to train AI models.
Such moves could undermine licensing deals currently being negotiated by publishers and creatives with big tech companies. It would also raise questions about the viability of the news media bargaining incentive, where news publishers strike commercial deals with major social media networks for the use of their journalism online.
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The Australian Council of Trade Unions accused the Productivity Commission of having “swallowed the arguments of large multinational tech companies hook, line and sinker”, warning its approach would do little to help working Australians.
“The report’s extensive canvassing of the possibility of a text and data mining exemption opens the door to legitimising the rampant theft of the creative output of Australia’s creative workers and of Indigenous cultural and intellectual property,” the ACTU said.
Joseph Mitchell, the ACTU assistant secretary, said such an exemption would create a situation where “tech bros get all the benefits of the new technology and productivity benefits are not fairly shared”.
Apra Amcos, Australasia’s music rights collecting agency, and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Music Office said they were disappointed at the commission’s suggestions, raising concerns about such moves “potentially devastating Australia’s $9bn music industry”.
Apra’s chair, Jenny Morris, claimed the recommendations would “legitimise what they themselves acknowledge is already widespread theft”.
The attorney general, Michelle Rowland, who has carriage over copyright law, said further adoption of AI must be done in a way to build trust and confidence.
“Any potential reform to Australia’s copyright laws must consider the impacts on Australia’s creative, content and news media sectors. I am committed to continuing to engage on these issues including through the Copyright and AI Reference Group that our government established last year,” she said.
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Ley, asked about the PC report, said she was concerned about a lack of “guardrails” from the government in responding to AI challenges.
“We have to protect content creators … that work is theirs and it can’t be taken without it being paid for,” she said.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, said he believed AI could be “a force for good”, but acknowledged risks in the expanding technology.
“The only way to make our people and workers and industries beneficiaries is if we treat AI as an enabler, not an enemy of what we want to see in our economy,” he told a press conference in Parliament House.
He pointed out that copyright laws apply in Australia, which he said was in contrast to some other countries, and that the government was not seeking to change those laws.
The arts minister, Tony Burke, pointed to a submission to the review from Creative Australia, which he said “makes clear that with respect to copyright and labelling, there needs to be consent, transparency and remuneration”.
The Australian Publishers Association raised fears about authors, researchers and publishers having their work used without permission or compensation, which it said would undermine local publishing, as well as federal government cultural policy.
“We support responsible innovation, but this draft proposal rewards infringers over investors,” said Patrizia Di Biase-Dyson, APA’s CEO.
“We reject the notion that Australian stories and learning materials – that shape our culture and democracy – should be treated as free inputs for corporate AI systems.”
The Copyright Agency also opposed the text and data mining exemption, saying it would negatively affect creators’ earning capacity.
“The push to water down Australia’s copyright system comes from multinational tech companies, and is not in the national interest,” said CEO Josephine Johnston. “If we want high-quality Australian content to power the next phase of AI, we must ensure creators are paid for it.”
