Photo Credit: Kylie Minogue by marcen27 / CC by 2.0
Australia’s music and creative organizations have issued an open letter urging the government to enforce Australia’s copyright laws and protect creators in the face of AI.
A coalition of Australia’s leading music and creative organizations has united to issue an open letter demanding stronger copyright protections in the face of growing concerns over unauthorized AI training. The coalition includes APRA AMCOS, ARIA, The Copyright Agency, Australian Music Centre, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Music Office, Australian Publishers Association, Screenrights, Screen Producers Australia, AIR, and many more.
The organizations are requesting that the federal Australian government ensure AI developers cannot use copyrighted creative works without permission or fair remuneration. They argue that Australia’s existing copyright framework covers and should continue to protect creators in the age of artificial intelligence.
“Last year, the government rejected a proposal that would let AI companies use our work for free. That was the right call. The Australian public is asking technology platforms to be accountable to the environment, to the community, and to our culture. Consent and remuneration are how that accountability works for creators. Not a discretionary arrangement on the platform’s terms. The right to say yes or no, and to be paid when the answer is yes,” reads the letter.
“What the AI companies want instead is a system where they decide what to pay and when. No rights. No negotiation. No recourse. They want to go from asking permission to asking for gratitude.”
The move follows the news revealed by The Atlantic in early June that millions of Australian and New Zealand musical works were included in the “giant datasets of songs” allegedly used to train AI models without consent. Among those artists whose works were reportedly included are Kylie Minogue, Sia, Split Enz, Midnight Oil, INXS, Lorde, Nick Cave, and Tame Impala.
“We are just as appalled as you are about tech platforms using your works for AI training without permission or payment,” said APRA AMCOS CEO Dean Ormston in a statement urging members to add their names to the letter. “What is happening to Australian and New Zealand songwriters, composers, and music publishers is the largest theft of intellectual property in the history of our industry.”
“I have already signed my name, calling on the Australian Government to commit to the future of creativity in this country and not to trade it away. I urge you to join me and sign your name,” he added.
“Consent, control, and compensation sit at the heart of every creative career and of a $67 billion local industry. Changing copyright law would legalize the theft of Australian creativity and set a precedent felt well beyond our borders. It would extinguish a functioning commercial licensing market and take away the AI opportunity from artists and music businesses,” said ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd.
“We are standing at Parliament House today, united across the creative and media industries, to ask the Government to hold the line it drew in October and let the licensing market function as it should.”