Independent Senator David Pocock has called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to introduce legislation that would prevent technology companies from training artificial intelligence models on Australian news, books, and other copyrighted content without explicit permission or fair compensation. In a letter sent on Wednesday, Pocock warned that the current lack of regulation allows global tech giants to exploit Australian creative works for commercial AI development, undermining local industries and intellectual property rights.
Pocock’s urgent appeal to the government
The senator’s intervention follows growing concerns among publishers, authors, and artists that their content is being scraped without consent to train large language models and other AI systems. “Australia must not stand by while our cultural and creative assets are taken without permission or payment,” Pocock wrote. “The government needs to act now to ensure that Australian content creators are fairly compensated when their work is used to train AI models.”
Pocock’s letter specifically references the rise of generative AI tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, which rely on vast datasets scraped from the internet, including Australian websites. He argues that existing copyright laws are inadequate for the digital age and that new legislation is required to establish clear rules for AI training data.
Industry support for stronger protections
The push for tighter regulation has gained support from key industry groups. The Australian Publishers Association and the Copyright Agency have both advocated for a mandatory licensing scheme that would require tech companies to negotiate with rights holders before using their content. “Without intervention, we risk seeing the value of Australian creativity siphoned off by foreign corporations,” said a spokesperson for the Copyright Agency. “A fair and transparent system is essential.”
According to a recent survey by the Australian Society of Authors, 78% of writers and illustrators are concerned about their work being used to train AI without consent. The society has called for an urgent review of copyright exceptions that currently allow some forms of text and data mining for research purposes, arguing that commercial AI training should not fall under those exemptions.
Government response and next steps
The Albanese government has so far taken a cautious approach, with the Minister for Industry and Science, Ed Husic, stating in May that the government is “carefully considering” the implications of AI on copyright. A spokesperson for the Prime Minister said the letter from Pocock would be reviewed, but declined to comment on specific legislative proposals.
However, Pocock is pressing for a clear timeline. “The government cannot afford to delay. Other jurisdictions, such as the European Union and Japan, are already moving to protect their content creators. Australia must keep pace,” he said. The EU’s AI Act, passed earlier this year, includes transparency requirements for AI developers regarding the use of copyrighted training data, while Japan is considering a similar framework.
Potential impact on Australian media and culture
If adopted, the proposed legislation could have significant implications for the Australian media landscape. News Corp Australia and Nine Entertainment have both publicly supported the idea of a licensing model, similar to the News Media Bargaining Code that forced Google and Meta to pay for news content. “AI companies should not get a free pass to use our journalism to build their products,” said a News Corp executive. “We need a fair market for our content.”
Smaller publishers and independent creators also stand to benefit. “For too long, creators have been left in the dark about how their work is being used,” said a representative from the Australian Writers’ Guild. “Clear rules would give us control and a share of the value created by AI.”
The debate comes as Australia’s AI ethics framework, released in 2019, is being updated. Pocock has urged the government to embed strong copyright protections into the new framework, ensuring that ethical AI development respects the rights of content creators.
