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The Australian Writers’ Guild ( AWG ) and Australian Writers’ Guild Authorship Collecting Society ( AWGACS ) welcome the Attorney-General’s announcement that the Australian Government will maintain Australia’s strong copyright framework.   The Australian Writers’ Guild is the professional association for Australian screen and stage writers across film, television, theatre, audio and interactive media and has protected and promoted their creative and professional interests for more than 60 years.  Established in 1996, the Australian Writers’ Guild Authorship Collecting Society (AWGACS) is the not-for-profit collecting society for screenwriters. AWGACS collects and distributes international and domestic royalties for Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand writers.  AWG and AWGACS welcome the Attorney-General ruling out a Text and Data Mining (TDM) exception, a change that would have eroded Australia’s copyright laws and retroactively legitimised the theft of writers’ works by big tech. Big tech companies, led by the Tech Council of Australia’s Scott Farquhar, have been lobbying for weakening Australia’s copyright laws to allow the wholesale ingestion of Australian works for Artificial Intelligence (AI) without compensation or consent. The Attorney General has ruled out this change and pledged to work with creatives through the Copyright and Artificial Intelligence Reference Group (CAIRG).  “We applaud the Government making this announcement in the face of sustained pressure from big tech, particularly foreign-owned companies, who want to strip-mine our culture and content,” said Claire Pullen , AWG and AWGACS Group CEO. “This sends a message that our cultural and creative industries can be part of ethical AI development as partners, not subordinates – that Australian creators can negotiate terms, not be dictated to.”  In October, Pulle n gave evidence to a Senate inquiry for AWG and AWGACS that writers contribute $1 billion a year to Australia’s economy, a contribution that was at risk due to the behaviour of big tech companies.   “We applaud the Government for stating so clearly that there is no ambiguity in Australian law, and that Government stands behind Australian writers.” Pullen said.

Australian creative workers have strongly opposed any suggestion that Australia’s copyright laws should be weakened, calling on the government to first address the fundamental issue of copyright theft and the misuse of creative work at the core of Artificial Intelligence (AI) development. The Productivity Commission’s interim report “ Harnessing data and digital technology ” sought feedback on a possible “TDM exception” to the  Copyright Act , a move creative workers immediately   rejected , citing the irreparable damage it could cause to Australia’s billion-dollar creative industries and the proposal’s retrospective legalisation of the large-scale theft already committed by tech companies. “Tech companies operating Large Language Models (LLMs) have admitted that their AI models are built on the backs of copyrighted works that have been  taken  without consent or payment. It is unbelievable that the Productivity Commission can even be considering sweeping this under the rug in pursuit of unproven benefits touted by tech companies,” says Australian Writers’ Guild ( AWG ) and Australian Writers’ Guild Authorship Collecting Society ( AWGACS ) CEO Claire Pullen.   The joint submission addresses a raft of concerns neglected by the Productivity Commission, including the fundamental question of whether LLMs and AI technology actually work reliably, whether there is any evidence to suggest it will have the economic impact its proponents have claimed, the Productivity Commission’s failure to consult meaningfully with creative organisations and its resultant ignorance of the creative sector, as well as the contradiction of the Productivity Commission’s own 2022 recommendations regarding the protection of First Nations cultural assets and expressions. “The Productivity Commission has called for a light tough on regulation, and in doing so is falling directly in line with the global tech companies who seek to push aside Australian law and the rights of Australian workers in pursuit of cash-grabs for investors.” Pullen believes there is a clear way forward for the Government to balance the rights of creative workers and the growth of digital technologies.  “Australia’s existing copyright framework is a sound basis for the continued growth of Aussie content and intellectual property. If we want to fuel productivity in Australia we should be looking to licensing and royalty collection systems that empower creators to own and license their work, their likenesses and voice, rather than stripping away their rights,” says Pullen.    The submission recommends the introduction of AI regulation that: Requires AI developers to acquire consent from creative workers before their work or likeness is used to ‘train’ AI datasets, with an appropriate compensation model; and Implements a compensatory and rectification process for infringements that have already occurred, including the removal of work from models. In addition, they propose the government commit to: Standalone protections or updated copyright frameworks for First Nations cultural assets; A moral right of an artist against the use of their work for AI training by expanding Part IX of the  Copyright Act relating to the “Moral Rights of Performers and of Authors of Literary, Dramatic, Musical or Artistic Works and Cinematograph Films”; A no-cost jurisdiction available to creators to seek remedy where they believe their work has been infringed, where transparency is required and any failure to provide transparency results in a default judgement against the defendant AI company; and Standalone AI regulation consistent with Department of Industry, Science and Resources (DISR) ‘mandatory guardrails for AI use in high-risk settings’. “Our position is clear – there can be no economic, cultural or scientific benefit to the nation until a process of transparency, consent and ongoing compensation is afforded to the creative workers who have made AI possible,” says Pullen. The  AWG  and  AWGACS  position is endorsed by the following industry guilds and collecting societies: Australian Cinematographers’ Society ( ACS ), Australian Directors’ Guild ( ADG ), Australian Screen Directors Authorship Collecting Society ( ASDACS ), Australian Guild of Screen Composers ( AGSC ), Australian Production Design Guild ( APDG ), Australian Screen Editors’ Guild ( ASE ), the Australian Screen Sound Guild ( ASSG ) and the Australian Association of Voice Actors ( AAVA ), representing cinematographers, directors, screen and live performance designers, screen composers, sound recorders, sound editors, sound mixers, screen editors and voice actors.

The Australian Writers' Guild invites you to celebrate the best of Australian storytelling by joining us for the 57th Annual AWGIE Awards on the evening of Thursday 13 February 2025 Tickets Student $70   BOOK HERE AWG Member $80   BOOK HERE General $120   BOOK HERE Meet the nominees  and be the first to congratulate the award-winning writers across stage, screen, audio and interactive categories. The event will be co-hosted by comedy superstars Alex Lee   and   Suren Jayemanne . Event Details Thursday 13 February Parade Theatre National Institute of Dramatic Art 215 Anzac Parade, Kensington, Sydney 6pm Drinks in the foyer 7pm Announcement and presentation of Awards 8:30pm-10:30pm Cocktail reception Dress Code Foyer-Fabulous Tickets Student $70   BOOK HERE AWG Member $80   BOOK HERE General $120   BOOK HERE See you at the AWGIES!