The federal government appears ready, for now, to hold the line against recommended changes to copyright law which would allow AI to freely mine content without payment.
Industry and Science Minister Tim Ayres told the ABC the government has no plans to change laws around artificial intelligence and copyright.
The Productivity Commission has proposed a change to copyright law to include a fair dealing exception that would cover text and data mining without permission from copyright owners.
And billionaire Scott Farquhar, an Atlassian co-founder, told the National Press Club last week that Australia's copyright rules are a barrier to many AI companies training or hosting their models in Australia.
“We are in a perverse situation where copyright holders aren’t seeing any more money, but we also don’t see the economic upside of training and hosting models in Australia,” he said.
“My first ask today is for the attorney general to urgently amend our copyright act to look at fair use and text data mining exceptions. Fixing this one thing could unlock billions of dollars of foreign investment into Australia.”
The proposal by the Productivity Commission attracted quick condemnation from those whose business it is to create content, including publishers and authors.
The Copyright Agency, which collects licensing fees on behalf of copyright owners, says an exception would only serve to preference the interests of multinational technology companies at the expense of Australia’s creative industries.
The agency said the push to water down Australia’s copyright system comes from multinational tech companies.
However, ethical developers of AI in Australia could access content to enhance functionality and outputs under the current settings, including under licensing arrangements.
“AI can deliver productivity gains, but not by stripping value from the creative industries that are central to our culture and economy,” said Josephine Johnston, Copyright Agency CEO.
“If we want high-quality Australian content to power the next phase of AI, we must ensure creators are paid for it.”
The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) is dismayed about the prospect of a text and data mining (TDM) exception to Australia’s Copyright Act, allowing for the training of AI models on copyright work.
The authors point out that the report acknowledges that large AI models have already been trained on Australian creators’ work, without consent or compensation, but still seeks to explore an exception to authorise such use.
“Copyright is how authors earn a living,” said ASA CEO Lucy Hayward.
“A text and data mining exception would give tech companies a free pass to use their work to train artificial intelligence models – and profit from it – while Australian creators get nothing.
“Not only is that absurd, it’s unjust. While the report states an exception would not be a ‘blank cheque’, we’re unconvinced.
“Authors and illustrators sit at the heart of an industry that contributes over $2 billion to the Australian economy. Instead of considering ways to legitimise the theft of their work, we should be exploring how to protect their rights.
“We understand the desire to embrace the opportunities that generative AI brings to the Australian economy, but it cannot come at the cost of creators’ livelihoods and the creative industries.
“Text and data mining exceptions don’t benefit creators, Australian culture, or even tech companies, who need writers and artists to survive and continue to create high-quality books to develop and improve their AI tools. It undermines existing and potential licensing markets which give tech companies access to the material they need, and remunerate creators in a sustainable economy.”
ASA director and labour relations lawyer Josh Bornstein said the Productivity Commission’s exploration of this proposal is perverse.
“A text and data mining exception would mean that some of the wealthiest corporations in Big Tech would be able to freeload from low-paid authors’ labour. It would institutionalise wage theft for those working in creative industries,” he said.
Hayward said the argument that Australia’s copyright law hinders innovation and investment is patently false. Tech and AI is booming in Australia, with Amazon just recently invested $20 billion in data centre infrastructure.
“Generative AI models will continue to scale and be monetised,” she said.
“A text and data mining exception will effectively give away the intellectual property of Australian creators allowing tech giants to entrench their dominant positions in the market and continue extracting value from the Australian economy.
“It would be a strikingly unreasonable recommendation for proponents of a fair market to make. A fair market requires a fair exchange.”
Earlier this year the ASA heard from almost 1,900 authors reporting around 12,000 of their books had been pirated and used by Meta to train its generative AI tool.
The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance is dismayed by recommendations proposed by the Productivity Commission, including its resistance to much-needed legislation and regulation that would protect Australia’s creative and media workforce from AI theft.
The union says the commission’s interim report, Harnessing data and digital technology, is a blueprint for the “wholesale theft” of Australia’s art, media and cultural heritage to further enrich the billionaires of Silicon Valley.
MEAA’s 2025 AI survey released earlier this month revealed, media, creative and entertainment workers are urging the government to regulate AI amid widespread concern about stolen work and future job losses.
More than 90 % of workers want AI regulation and for technology giants to be forced to pay for the work they steal.
MEAA reiterates its call on the government to respect the fundamental role that Australia’s creative and media workforce play in our society and introduce economy-wide regulations that will ensure consent, compensation and control over work that could be used to train AI.
MEAA rejects calls from the commission to “‘pause” steps to mandate the government’s proposed guardrails legislation. Safeguards around transparency, labelling, and the attribution of liability are urgently needed to contain the potential harms of this technology.
MEAA also rejects suggestions that existing copyright laws be rolled back, which would effectively enable a transfer of resources from Australian creatives to mostly foreign big tech companies, with no chance of compensation.
MEAA chief executive Erin Madeley said the Productivity Commission’s interim recommendations were akin to “throwing Australia’s creative and media workers under a bus”.
“There are no recommendations in this report that protect Australian workers or creative assets,” Ms Madeley said.
“Our members have serious concerns about the rapid and unregulated rise of AI and its impact on day-to-day work, job security, and future employment prospects, as well as the impact of the loss of human-led creativity for Australia’s unique culture.
“Also missing in discussions about regulating AI has been any consideration of how to compensate workers who have had their work stolen by AI developers overseas.
“We know that Australian voices, music, and artwork have been scraped overseas, that ChatGPT is substituting the work of our journalists, and that AI-generated clone hosts have been used for radio programs – with no disclosure to audiences.
“Companies like Meta, which recorded $US165 billion in revenue last year, should be paying for the creative assets, works, and ideas that they have stolen, but that is not happening.
“That’s theft – plain and simple.
“MEAA is calling on the government to reject the Productivity Commission’s short-sighted proposals and stand up for Australian workers by introducing AI-specific regulation as a matter of urgency.”
(DISCLOSURE: Chris Pash is a former director and chair of the Australian Society of Authors and is a former board director of the Copyright Agency.)
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