Art ‘must not be sacrificed on the altar of corporate profit’ Liberal senator says as AI policy debate rages
Summary
Australian Liberal senator Andrew McLachlan urged the government and opposition to protect artists’ copyright as they develop artificial intelligence policy and seek AI investment. He also called for environmental safeguards on data centres, which can increase emissions and household power costs.Key Facts
- McLachlan said artists’ copyright should not be weakened to attract investment from AI companies.
- Some AI companies have sought legal certainty on copyright before investing in Australia and have argued that existing licensing rules are difficult to follow.
- Anthropic proposed an opt-out approach that would let it use copyrighted music, books and journalism unless rights holders object.
- McLachlan said compensation for the use of artists’ work should be considered individually and warned that industry-wide schemes may not be fair.
- Coalition members Ross Cadell and Michaelia Cash raised concerns that allowing AI companies to scrape copyrighted material could amount to a government acquisition of property requiring just compensation.
- The Labor government and Coalition have both supported attracting AI investment and data centres to Australia.
- Data centre growth is expected to increase emissions and household power costs, prompting opposition from environmental groups and some communities.
- Labor and Coalition representatives have said they will work toward a multiparty approach to AI policy.
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