Overview

• The Productivity Commission’s draft report proposes a text-and-data-mining exception to the Copyright Act to allow AI training on Australian works.
• Arts minister Tony Burke stated the government has no plans to weaken current copyright laws in response to the commission’s proposal.
• Industry figures like Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar and major AI companies argue that without a fair-use-style exemption, Australia risks losing AI investment.
• The US Copyright Office highlighted dozens of ongoing lawsuits over AI training’s fair use status, and a June federal ruling found Anthropic’s use of copyrighted books lawful.
• Creative groups led by former arts minister Peter Garrett warn that broad exemptions could erode creators’ income, cultural sovereignty and market demand for original works.