Jessica Mauboy has issued a public plea to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese not to weaken Australia’s copyright laws, amid fears artificial intelligence companies could soon be given greater access to Australian music and creative works.
The 36-year-old singer and actress spoke to NewsWire ahead of a major copyright campaign event in Canberra on Wednesday, where some of Australia’s biggest names in music, publishing and the arts gathered to call on the Federal Government to preserve existing copyright protections.
Mauboy said the prospect of big tech companies using her music without permission was “unimaginable”.
“The idea that big tech might get a free pass to train AI on my music without my consent is unimaginable,” Mauboy said.
The Darwin-based singer, who released music independently for the first time this year, said the move had made her appreciate the importance of creative ownership more than ever.
“The Albanese government must not sell out Australian culture and take away our right to choose how our work is used,” she said.
Her comments come just weeks after The Atlantic reported that millions of songs, including Australian and New Zealand musical works, had allegedly been included in four massive datasets circulating within the AI development community.
Among the local artists reportedly affected were Midnight Oil, Cold Chisel, Sia, Crowded House, Split Enz, INXS, Kylie Minogue, Christine Anu and Nick Cave.
Current Australian copyright law requires AI companies to obtain permission before using copyrighted material to train their models.
However, concerns were reignited last week after independent senator David Pocock claimed a whistleblower had told him the Albanese Government was considering a copyright carve-out for AI in return for investment in Australia’s data centre infrastructure.
Speaking on Sky News, the ACT senator said cabinet was considering two possible approaches to AI and copyright.
Under one option, AI companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic could receive a “text and data mining exemption”, allowing them to train AI models using copyrighted material without first obtaining permission.
“The other option is some sort of extension of copyright where there’s a licensing arrangement which I think, depending on how it’s done, artists and others could come around to it if it was on fair terms and you could actually negotiate your copyright as well,” he said.
The event at Mural Hall in Parliament House was attended by representatives from the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA AMCOS), and the Australasian Music Publishers Association Limited (AMPAL), alongside creatives including First Nations musician William Barton, children’s author Andy Griffiths and singer-songwriter Mahalia Barnes, to name a few.
Outside Parliament House, AMPAL chief executive Damian Rinaldi said Australia’s existing copyright system was already working.
“If AI companies want to use music, they need permission, they need a licence and they need to pay fairly. Licensing is already working.
“Australia should not weaken copyright to solve a problem the market is already solving.”
Meanwhile, the Albanese Government has denied it is considering any changes that would weaken Australia’s copyright laws.
In a statement to the Guardian last week, a spokesperson for Industry Minister Tim Ayres described Senator Pocock’s claims as “inaccurate”.
“The government has ruled out a text and data mining exception. Our position has not changed,” they said.