Screenrights has voiced its concerns regarding the potential erosion of copyright and its impact on members and the broader screen and creative industries.
“While we acknowledge the productivity benefits of AI advancements, a text and data mining exception to copyright will favour overseas tech companies at the cost of Australian creators,” said Screenrights Board Chair Kim Dalton.
“Australian creative work is safeguarded by our world-class copyright and licensing arrangements. Undermining its value will harm not only a vital sector of our economy but one that is crucial to our identity as a nation.”
Disregarding the rights of creators is already limiting the usability of AI platforms for organisations and individuals that do respect Australia’s copyright laws. Ultimately, this will undermine the social licence of these technologies altogether.
Creating legal loopholes for technology companies contradicts the long term goal of maintaining a viable creative sector that can contribute to and benefit from the use of generative AI.
“Rewarding tech conglomerates for their unlicensed use of third party content and their lack of transparency about content used in training is not the answer,” says Screenrights Chief Executive James Dickinson. “Fair and equitable licensing and remuneration for the creators whose work is being used in generative AI will protect our creative sector. It will also give this technology the ability to warrant the provenance of materials used in the creation of outputs, increasing its uptake in industries that respect intellectual property.”
Screenrights is also urging the Government to ensure Indigenous cultural and intellectual property considerations are central to this discussion.
In 2022, Minister for the Arts Tony Burke MP supported the Productivity Commission’s own report on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visual arts and crafts, stating:
“For too long, fake ‘Indigenous-style’ merchandise has undercut legitimate artists, misled consumers and caused a number of cultural harms – this has to stop. We’re committed to cracking down on this deliberate cultural theft.”
Screenrights agrees and believes the same principle should apply to all creative outputs.
As the declared copyright collecting society for film, radio and television under Australia’s Copyright Act 1968, Screenrights advocates for a policy solution that enables efficient collective licensing where necessary and allows for individual licences where copyright owners can offer them.
