'No Major AI Platform Has Asked to License Copyright Material in Four Years' APRA Says

Not one major AI platform has contacted APRA AMCOS about licensing copyright material in the four years since generative AI became publicly available, according to the industry body. 

In its submission to the Joint Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence, APRA AMCOS advocated that one question should be asked the Committee to any AI platform, tech and business industry body it engages with: Why are they refusing to enter into licensing arrangements for high-value creative content today?

"Multinational AI platforms are the most powerful companies the world has ever seen, and they are throwing that weight around to get the rules of the global IP market rewritten in their favour. Australia is where they've decided to start," APRA AMCOS CEO Dean Ormston said in a statement on Tuesday.

"The platforms are hoping that the promise of large-scale investment in Australia will be enough to change our laws, weaken the copyright framework and set a global precedent: that they never have to seek permission or pay for the creative content their commercial success depends on.

“They have found the money for nearly every lobbying firm in Canberra. They have found the money for data centres, power and Nvidia chips. But they have no intention of paying for the single most important ingredient in training and running a frontier large language model, which is creative content. And it isn't only Australia's IP they want. It's Australia and the world's IP, trained on in data centres here without a single licence agreement.

"We've been doing this for a hundred years, and we've watched plenty of technology companies arrive convinced the rules didn't apply to them," Ormston added. "Radio worked it out. Television worked it out. The download stores, streaming services and social media platforms all worked it out and built businesses worth billions based on licences.”

APRA AMCOS' submission seven recommendations include a training data disclosure obligation on any model made available in Australia, a new cause of action against models built on infringing uses regardless of where the training took place, stand-alone Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property legislation with its digital and AI provisions brought forward, and a $500 million Commonwealth fund for investment in lawful, sovereign AI development in the creative sector.

"We welcome the opportunity of AI and the potential dividend for the Australian economy," Ormston said.

“But Australia's creative industries contribute economically, socially and culturally, and they must not be undervalued and sold off expeditiously.”