Australia’s Music Industry Welcomes Senate Report on AI
Like the genie that won’t go back in the bottle, Artificial Intelligence is here to stay.
And it poses a planet-size problem for creators, if regulatory and policy frameworks aren’t swiftly established.
That’s the crux of the Senate Select Committee’s final report on Artificial Intelligence, which, among its key findings, highlights the urgent need for guardrails to protect intellectual property.
Eight months in the making, the report’s authors were tasked with exploring the opportunities and impacts for Australia arising out of the uptake of AI technologies.
For the music community, the document includes several noteworthy recommendations, from the implementation of a credentialing system for AI-generated content, to enhanced transparency from tech platforms, and targeted regulatory reforms to prevent the misuse of AI in the creative industries.
Following its publication this week, the Australian music industry widely welcomed its findings, and for proposing actionable next steps.
In a statement, ARIA and PPCA highlighted three specific recommendations:
• Recommendation 8: That the Australian Government continue to consult with creative workers, rightsholders and their representative organisations through the CAIRG on appropriate solutions to the unprecedented theft of their work by multinational tech companies operating within Australia.
• Recommendation 9: That the Australian Government require the developers of AI products to be transparent about the use of copyrighted works in their training datasets, and that the use of such works is appropriately licenced and paid for.
• Recommendation 10: That the Australian Government urgently undertake further consultation with the creative industry to consider an appropriate mechanism to ensure fair remuneration is paid to creators for commercial AI-generated outputs based on copyrighted material used to train AI systems.
“This report provides further recognition of the critical importance of getting the right regulatory settings in place urgently to ensure AI doesn’t decimate the creative industries, including recorded music,” comments ARIA and PPCA CEO Annabelle Herd.
“It’s vital that regulation guarantees transparency and upholds existing copyright protection to ensure Australian artists, labels, and rightsholders are not exploited as we realise AI’s transformative impact across the economy and society.”
APRA AMCOS CEO Dean Ormston also applauded the Committee’s study, following the PRO’s own “AI and Music Report” which found that 24% of the Australian and New Zealand music industry revenue could be lost within the next four years if generative AI platforms continue to operate without proper licensing or consent.
The music community is no stranger to danger. Slow to react to P2P file-sharing, and then heavy-handed in its response, the industry has grappled with AI and its consequences for several years.
Sydney University is among the supporters of AI For Music, an organisation which has drawn up a set of principles outlining the responsible use of AI in music creation.
The recently-published Senate report “makes an important contribution to ensuring the future of Australia’s creative industries,” Ormston comments. “By acknowledging the significant harm generative AI can cause—both economically and culturally—the recommendations offer a pathway to protecting the creators who form the cultural backbone of this country. These are the people whose works enrich our lives and power an industry worth billions to our economy.”
Significantly, he continues, “the report reflects unanimous agreement across government, opposition and crossbench senators on the urgent need to address AI’s impact on music and the broader creative sector.”
Read the full Senate report on Artificial Intelligence here.