Australian artists, writers and media figures have taken the fight against artificial intelligence to Parliament House this week.

Leading arts figures including William Barton, Mahalia Barnes, Andy Griffiths, Anna Funder, Warren H. Williams and Paul Dempsey gathered in Canberra on 1 July, urging the Albanese Government to “hold the line” against AI companies and their pushback against existing copyright frameworks.

Australian creatives at Parliament House on 1 July, 2026. Photo © Shoelace Creative

“Despite what tech might tell you, copyright is simple. If you want to use someone’s work, you need to ask permission. And copyright is also how authors earn a living,” said Australian Society of Authors’ Lucy Hayward.

“Instead of coming to creators and rights holders to do deals, big tech is throwing money at lobbying in Canberra for solutions that would enable them to use creators’ work in exchange for chump change. For all intents and purposes that’s wage theft for the creative industries.”

The group of artists and arts organisations including APRA AMCOS, ARIA, the Australian Writers’ Guild, AMPA and Mushroom Group note the Government’s “right decision” to reject a proposed text and data mining excemption for AI...