Australia's Creative Sector Backs Licensing Over Free AI Training
Australia's media, music, publishing, and visual arts sectors gathered at Parliament House to argue for mandatory licensing agreements when AI companies train on copyrighted work. The event brought together industry bodies, publishers, and broadcasters to make the case against free access to creative content.
Attorney-General Michelle Rowland opened the discussion by confirming the government will not introduce a Text and Data Mining exception-a legal carve-out that would let AI developers use copyrighted material without permission. The UK recently reversed course on this position, but Australia decided in 2025 to require commercial AI developers to negotiate licensing deals instead.
Why Licensing Matters to Creatives
Rebecca Costello from The Guardian Australia framed the stakes plainly: "When that work is taken and used without compensation, the impact is fewer journalists, fewer newsrooms and less public interest journalism."
The creative sector contributes $67 billion annually to Australia's economy. Without compensation for training data, creators argue the economic model that funds original work collapses.
Licensing is already happening. Google signed with the Australian Associated Press. OpenAI made deals with The Guardian and News Corp. Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group, and Sony Music negotiated agreements with major AI platforms. Canva licensed images from Getty Images.
The Comparison to Streaming
Jonathan Dworkin from Universal Music Group drew a parallel to music streaming: "We didn't defeat piracy by turning off the internet. Ultimately, we prevailed because streamers built a better product than piracy. That's what we hope to do with AI."
The argument suggests that licensing creates a workable market rather than shutting down technology entirely.
Protection for Unique Content
Composer and creative technologist Charlie Chan raised a concern specific to Australia: protecting First Nations cultural content. "We have the technology we need to license things properly, to protect content and find where everything is," Chan said. "Australia has something truly unique - a thousand generations of First Nations culture - and we have a responsibility to protect it."
Licensing systems can track where content originates and who should be compensated.
Trust and Market Fairness
Professor Edward Santow from the University of Technology Sydney connected fair licensing to public trust in AI. "We need government to ensure there is a fair market so that organisations can participate fairly," Santow said.
He noted that Australians have among the lowest levels of trust in AI globally-not because they resist technology, but because they see when it goes wrong. Fair market practices, he suggested, build confidence.
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