In a rare win for local creatives in the face of the seemingly untrammelled data transference of copyrighted material to overseas tech corporations, Attorney-General Michelle Rowland has confirmed that the Government has no plans to introduce a Text and Data Mining (TDM) exception.

The decision rules out changes sought by leading technology industry groups including the Tech Council of Australia, Business Council of Australia and several global tech companies, which had pushed for relaxed rules around the use of copyrighted material – text, images and music – in AI training.

Dean Ormston, CEO of music rights organisation APRA AMCOS, said the Government’s stance “is a significant moment for Australian creators and our cultural sovereignty”.

“Australia’s world-leading licencing framework is the pathway to ethical AI development, not a barrier to innovation,” he said. “If copyright was truly the barrier the tech lobby claims, the multi-billion-dollar investments in Australia from companies including Amazon and OpenAI wouldn’t be happening.”

Image © Joshua Sortino/Unsplash

Ormston argued technology platforms are seeking jurisdictions that “will water down copyright legislation so that they can find ways to avoid paying creators...