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Copyright Laws Must Change in AI Age, Claims the Government; Artists Say Big Tech Should Just Pay Under Existing Laws

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Date Published
24 Mar 2026
Priority Score
2
Australian
Yes
Created
24 Mar 2026, 04:00 am

Authors (1)

Description

Artists and rights holder groups have been defiant about the need to change copyright law in meetings with the office of Assistant Minister Andrew Charlton, who has been spearheading the government's push to bring AI investment to Australia.

Summary

This report examines the tension between the Australian federal government's desire to modernize copyright laws to attract AI investment and the creative sector's demand for protection under existing frameworks. Assistant Minister Andrew Charlton's push for reform highlights a strategic pivot toward making Australia a viable hub for frontier AI training, essentially weighing economic incentives against domestic intellectual property rights. While primarily focused on economic and legal disputes, the debate underscores the broader governance challenge of managing rapid AI capability advancements and the shifting influence of foreign tech giants within Australian jurisdictions.

Body

Artists and copyright holder groups are bracing themselves to push back against changes to the law to allow AI to train on copyrighted material, as the federal government comes under increasing pressure to reform the laws to clear the way for AI companies considering expanding into Australia.  At the announcement of the government’s new data centre expectations yesterday, Assistant Technology Minister Andrew Charlton said that “the status quo is not working” on copyright and AI, and that Australian copyrighted material was “being ripped off by foreign players”.