When Anna Funder stood before a pack of journalists at Parliament House earlier this month, she presented herself not just as a writer but also a “victim of crime”.
The Stasiland author was using the analogy to illustrate how technology companies have flagrantly “hoovered up” her literary works for their own profit.
Funder was also highlighting the importance of copyright laws in providing at least some layer of protection to Australians whose livelihoods depend on the original content they produce.
Authors, artists, musicians and media organisations were last year assured those laws wouldn’t be watered down when the federal government ruled out granting a legal exemption for artificial intelligence companies to mine content to train their large language models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude.
But continual lobbying from tech giants and a whistleblower’s tip-off to the independent senator David Pocock have ignited fears that the Albanese government might go back on its word – even as it continues to insist that it won’t.
The stoush has exposed splits within Labor about how to respond to AI and raised questions about how far the government should bend – if at all – to big tech to capture the supposed riches of the datacentre boom.
Ministers divided
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is expected to deliver a major speech on Wednesday about the government’s plans for regulating and capitalising on the nascent technology.
After abandoning former industry minister Ed Husic’s vision for a dedicated AI act in favour of a hands-off approach to regulation, the government is reportedly set to pivot back to a more interventionist strategy.
A concrete announcement on changes to copyright laws is not anticipated as part of Albanese’s address, which Guardian Australia has been told will be more vision statement than detailed policy announcement.
Senior Labor sources say ministers have been split on the path forward for copyright reform, delaying a resolution.
The industry minister, Tim Ayres, and the assistant minister for the digital economy, Andrew Charlton, are the most enthusiastic about attracting AI investment, while the attorney general, Michelle Rowland, who is responsible for copyright laws, and the arts minister, Tony Burke, are determined to protect the rights of creatives.
The prime minister sought to reassure creatives when asked last week if the copyright safeguards were at risk, pointing to the news bargaining incentive as evidence of Labor’s “strong track record” in protecting local content producers.
“These are complex issues, we’re working it through with the sector. But my government, I think, has a strong record of supporting people; one, having control over things that they have created, and secondly, if things are being used, being paid for it, being properly…
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