An AI copyright deal between Anthony Albanese and Angus Taylor is taking shape in Parliament House. The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Wednesday that the two leaders are moving toward a model that would let OpenAI and Anthropic train in Australia without signing individual licences for every work.
They met on Monday. Sources in both parties told the Herald the aim is to compensate creative rights-holders without forcing the labs into one-by-one agreements. Those agreements would set a global precedent the firms do not want, and would leave them open to suits from overseas rights-holders under Australian law. Tech company leaders have offered to pay into a broader pool as the compromise.
The labs are currently building centres for inference, the work of answering questions on models already trained elsewhere. Copyright law as it stands exposes them to litigation if they train here. Training centres are the investment they want. They bring engineers and a real presence. Inference halls do not.
What an AI copyright deal would change
Albanese did not rule out changing the rules when he spoke to the ABC on Tuesday. He said he would protect the creative sector. “This is a complex issue. We need to get on top of it.” In July he had drawn a harder line, saying Australian writers, musicians, artists and journalists must retain ownership and control, including of the price of their work, and that anything less is theft.
The Joint Select Committee wrote to him on 12 October with early advice. It recommended independent assessors inside the labs, early model access for security agencies as a condition of allowing training, an immediate review of government data protections, and a copyright review so Australian holders are paid. Jonno Duniam, the deputy chair, said on Tuesday that creators need control and compensation. The full report is due on 30 November.
The letter and the edits
David Pocock, who sits on the committee, said the draft he received contained track changes from the prime minister’s office. “I’m a bit concerned that it’s a bit of a major party stitch up,” he told News24. Guardian Australia reported that a senior adviser made multiple edits and wrote “fine” on some lines, with changes as late as 8.55pm, 35 minutes before chair Jo Briskey and Duniam sent the letter. Duniam said he wrote it, and that staff from government and elsewhere were involved.
Pocock and the Greens have raised concerns that a Labor-Coalition deal would not properly compensate creatives. Annabelle Herd, chief executive of ARIA, told the committee on 6 October that OpenAI and Anthropic want to train here on the proviso they do not have to abide by Australian copyright law. She called it a free ride, and warned Australia could become a Trojan horse for the labs.
The government ruled out a broad text-and-data-mining exception last year. What is on the table now is narrower, and bipartisan. Creators get a pool. The labs do not get a licence list. The deal is not signed.
