APRA AMCOS statement on the Joint Select Committee letter
APRA AMCOS notes the Joint Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence’s letter to the Prime Minister and reports that the Government and Opposition are discussing changes to copyright settings.
APRA AMCOS CEO Dean Ormston says: "The global precedent Anthropic and OpenAI are intent on establishing in Australia is not having to seek permission or pay for the world’s commercially available creative content. It has nothing to do with national security. We support the opportunity of AI for Australia, on Australia’s terms. We will not be dictated to by US companies seeking to undermine the framework for the global creative ecosystem.
"Our position has been consistent since Generative AI models became public at the end of 2022. Consent and payment belong at the centre of any arrangement, and licensing is how that is delivered. APRA has licensed music through every new technology of the past 100 years. The machinery to license AI is ready.
"What has been missing is anyone on the other side of the table. We have repeatedly invited AI platforms to tell us what they need. Not one platform operating in Australia has asked how a licence would work.
"Their own words explain why. Anthropic told an energy summit this week it can only do inference here “given legal uncertainty”. These companies face well over 100 copyright lawsuits in the United States, and Anthropic has already agreed a US$1.5 billion settlement with authors. What they want from Australia is a permanent exit from that liability, with the world’s creative work as the price.
"These platforms would not exist without copyright works. They have built businesses worth hundreds of billions of dollars on songs, books, films and journalism, yet they won’t extend creators the basic respect of asking first. We welcome the Prime Minister’s commitment that the interests of creators will be protected. Any deal with these companies must be made with eyes wide open to how they have behaved."
