Screenrights has made a submission in response to the public consultation on the Australian Government's National Cultural Policy.

Screenrights’ position is that the seismic shifts in the creative sectors globally related to generative Artificial Intelligence models (GenAI) have fundamentally changed the environment in which the cultural sector and the creative industries operate.

While the screen sector and Screenrights itself are by no means opposed to technological changes, absent proper controls and regulation GenAI represents a fundamental threat to the core principles of the Cultural Policy. Screenrights’ informed view is that regulatory reform is needed to strengthen copyright licensing for AI development in Australia, in order to level up access to licensing, particularly for smaller copyright holders.

Screenrights supports the introduction of an Extended Collective Licensing (ECL) framework into Australian copyright law to facilitate the licensing of content for AI and other purposes.

Read more here.