Overview

• ARIA, PPCA, APRA AMCOS and AIR formally rejected the Productivity Commission’s proposed text‑and‑data‑mining carve‑out, warning it would strip artists of control and payment.
• The proposal, set out in the commission’s interim report on data and digital technology, would allow AI developers to train on Australian works without prior licences.
• Artists including rapper Briggs, Jack River and Dan McNamee told a parliamentary inquiry that the change would amount to large‑scale cultural theft and remove agency over how their work is used.
• The Tech Council of Australia promoted opt‑out tools and content deals as a compromise to permit AI training, citing platform spending and local economic contributions.
• Greens senator Sarah Hanson‑Young accused Assistant Minister Andrew Charlton of siding with big tech, a claim his office rejected as it reiterated that copyright settings will not be weakened.