On 15 July, the ASA welcomed the Albanese government’s commitment to creators and copyright, set out in a landmark speech about shaping artificial intelligence in Australia’s interests. The ASA also supported the announcement of a new national framework to coordinate Australia’s response to artificial intelligence through an Office of AI. 

ASA Chair, Jen Mills, said, “It’s fantastic to have confirmation that the government will stand by Australian creators. This has been a very stressful time for authors, with so much pressure being applied by wealthy Big Tech lobbyists. I commend the government for sticking to its principles and seeing the value of Australian authors and Australian stories. Our rights as creators must be defended.

“Now big tech needs to come to the table and accept the facts. The next step is to make sure that authors are fairly compensated for the past theft of our work and for its future use, and that our rights are respected in practice.”

The defence of copyright protections for creators in Australia represents an essential first step. The next steps are to work with the Office of AI to ensure that, as a condition of doing business in Australia, multinational tech companies are required to:

• Be transparent about the copyright works they’ve used to train their large language models.
• Pay ongoing compensation to Australian authors’ and illustrators whose works have already been ingested – and from whom it is too late to seek consent – for as long as their work remains in the models.
• Negotiate permission for use of copyright work for AI training into the future, whether by direct or voluntary collective licensing.
• Comply with Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property protocols, which require consultation and consent.
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The ASA looks forward to working with the newly established Office of AI to ensure authors’ and illustrators’ rights and interests are protected.

Our warm thanks to authors Anna Funder and Andy Griffiths, who recently joined us in Canberra to speak up for creators, as well as to every author and illustrator who has raised awareness, spoken to media, written to their MPs, and participated in consultations and surveys. We are powerful when we stand together.