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Former Environment Minister and Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett has spoken out against recommendations made by the productivity commission suggesting that AI giants should be able to use copyrighted data to train their models.
Earlier this month, the Australian Productivity Commission released a report ahead of the federal government’s upcoming productivity round table warning that over-regulation of artificial intelligence could lead to a missed opportunity for the country.
The Commission estimated in its report that AI could add more than $116 billion to Australia’s economy, but regulations could get in the way of that economic boost.
"Adding economy-wide regulations that specifically target AI could see Australia fall behind the curve, limiting a potentially enormous growth opportunity," Commissioner Stephen King said.
"The Australian government should only apply the proposed 'mandatory guardrails for high-risk AI' in circumstances that lead to harms that cannot be mitigated by existing regulatory frameworks and where new technology-neutral regulation is not possible."
Key in the commission's suggestions was that AI giants should be allowed to bypass copyright legislation and use Australian creations for training, and that copyright could get in the way.
Now, Garrett has said the proposal to dilute copyright law for the purposes of AI is a “moment of reckoning” for the country, highlighting the threat it presents to Australian political discourse, economic freedom and culture.
“The threat here is literally to our cultural, political, social and economic sovereignty, and capacity to make decisions and to be protected in an environment where there are massive behemoths of unparalleled power and influence, with extremely powerful technologies, getting ready to let rip,” Garrett said on Tuesday during the Stolen Property: Big Tech’s Push to Mine Our Culture webinar.
“If we don’t take it up to our politicians, then we’ll be left as road kill on the side of the road. It won’t just be musicians lying there, wounded and bleeding; it’ll be all the punters. It’ll be all of us.”
Garrett was joined by fellow Australian musicians Missy Higgins, and Julian Hamilton of The Presets in calling the proposal of bypassing copyright as “galling and shameful.” The former politician and famous Australian frontman also warned politicians that regulation will be critical when it comes to AI.
“My expectation is that politicians do their job. They’ve already had inquiries on it. They’ve already had reports. There’s already a copyright regime in place, which could be strengthened,” he said.
“Yesterday, we saw newspaper reports saying that some parts of the government were going to favour what’s nominally called the ‘light touch’ of regulation.
“Well, I’m sorry: the light touch is not going to do. AI is massive. It’s got all these complexities in it, which we’re discussing today, and the threats are enormous, so you need a robust response.”
Garrett also commented on the moves by Australian tech giant Atlassian and its former co-CEO Scott Farquhar, who had said echoed the idea that copyright is blocking innovation.
“What [Farquhar] really did was step up and say that ‘we should be allowed to steal people’s copyright so we can make more money’,” said Garrett.
The productivity commission's recommendations have been slammed by a number of individuals, including Opposition Leader Sussan Ley.
"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.
"AI is important. We should embrace the technology with respect to AI, but we have to get the balance right so we can power the economy. And we have to protect people and content creators.
"There's very wishy-washy language coming from this government this morning about protecting the real intellectual property and the creative work of so many incredible Australians," she says.
The US and UK have already made moves towards allowing AI giants to bypass copyright for the purposes of training.
Despite failing to pass the House of Lords 4 times, the UK passed the Data (Use and Access) Bill.
Most of the bill’s details regarding AI copyright will be laid out in future legislation and thus will not take effect until at least 2026, as the government is adamant that regulating AI practices should not be dealt with in the bill, but instead with an AI bill, which may not appear until next year.
“The deadlock has now cleared – but it leaves a regulatory gap. The government has made clear it will not be drawn into regulating AI training practices via fragmented amendments. Instead, it remains committed to introducing a ‘comprehensive’ AI bill in the next parliamentary session – though that could be as late as 2026,” said the managing associate in the commercial disputes team at Addleshaw Goddard, Rebecca Newman.
“This outcome leaves the question of whether AI developers must ensure their models are trained in accordance with UK copyright law unresolved – but given the ongoing Getty trial, the answer will likely be shaped first by the courts, not Parliament.”
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