Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This has been a significant week for Australia's creative industries, with the announcement by the Attorney-General that the government will not create a copyright exemption to allow broad-scale mining of creative content by AI platforms. The proposal had been put forward by the Productivity Commission, who look at things from their angle, but any proposal to allow AI platforms to mine creative content without consent understandably creates anxiety amongst creatives.

The Attorney-General's decision has real consequences for Australia's artists, musicians and writers for the protection of their intellectual property and for how Australia positions itself to harness the benefits of the AI revolution ahead. As Special Envoy for the Arts, I'm so fortunate to meet regularly with artists and arts workers, and discuss AI and copyright at length. Artists are not luddites; they are innovators. They understand the potential of AI to support their research, experimentation and productivity, but we cannot expect them to welcome the AI revolution while their intellectual property is being stolen and their livelihoods are being undermined.

By ruling out this proposed exemption, the government has sent a clear message: we stand by our creatives. We will not allow their rights to be diluted or traded away. We will uphold their right to earn a fair income and to decide if and how their work is used by others. The Minister for the Arts was right to say that the unauthorised use of creative works for commercial gains is theft and that artists deserve protection from theft, as every Australian deserves protection from theft. As the Attorney-General noted, while AI brings significant opportunities for Australia and our economy, it is equally important that Australian creatives benefit from these opportunities too. Her decisions honours that balance, embracing innovation without abandoning the workers whose creativity drives Australian culture forward.

The arts community has welcomed this as a vital reaffirmation of the value of their labour. In ARIA's view, the decision:

… reinforces Australia's commitment to its artists and creative industries, ensuring that consent, control and compensation remain at the heart of copyright in the age of artificial intelligence.

APRA AMCOS called it:

… a significant moment for Australian creators and our cultural sovereignty.

The Australian Society of Authors described it as:

… a watershed moment—upholding copyright protections is a strong step towards setting a world-leading ethical and sustainable standard for AI development.

The National Association for the Visual Arts acknowledged:

This is an important win for Australian artists and the integrity of their work. A copyright exemption would have handed global tech companies free rein to scrape and profit from artists' work without consent, attribution or payment. We thank the government for listening to the arts community and standing firm in protecting artists' rights.

Our creative sector could not be clearer. Artists do not reject technology; they reject exploitation.

While this decision is an important step, it's not the end of the story. The capabilities of AI to ingest, analyse, synthesise and reproduce creative content are expanding rapidly. That brings extraordinary opportunity but also real risks. That's why we must keep communication channels open and ensure the arts community has a seat at the table in this policy discussion.

I'm pleased that the Attorney-General has reconvened the Copyright and AI Reference Group to examine the next steps and ensure that our copyright regime is fit for purpose in the digital age. Now that legalised scraping of creative content has been ruled out, the question is: what comes next? There are trusted, time tested mechanisms for licensing creative content and frameworks that ensure permission, recognition and payment is given. I'll continue to encourage the technology sector and the creative industries to work together to build and modernise licensing systems that foster innovation while upholding creators' rights.

Licensing systems can facilitate the legitimate, consensual use of content by AI and unlock new revenue streams for artists. But this decision is about more than dollars; it's about who controls culture, who tells our stories and who benefits from it. We must ensure Australia's creative voices are empowered, not absorbed into data sets without recognition or reward.