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Albanese government to address AI copyright issues with new reference group

The Australian government has announced the establishment of a reference group to take on the issue of copyright and artificial intelligence (AI) generated content.

user icon Daniel Croft
Tue, 05 Dec 2023
Albanese government to address AI copyright issues with new reference group
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Already, the world has observed the creation of AI-generated art, music, writing and more, which has repeatedly raised the question of authorship and copyright. Currently, works that are solely AI-generated are not covered under Australian copyright law.

However, the use of AI as a tool for the creation of works by human beings is a grey area that raises a plethora of issues, such as the use of AI to imitate or assist in imitating other artists and crediting an individual using an AI tool despite the material used to train the AI being from other people.

To tackle these issues, Attorney-General, the Honourable Mark Dreyfus KC MP has said the government will establish a copyright and artificial intelligence reference group.

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“The reference group will be a standing mechanism for ongoing engagement with stakeholders across a wide range of sectors, including the creative, media and technology sectors, to consider issues in a careful and consultative way,” wrote Dreyfus in a media release.

“Engagement with a broad range of stakeholders and sectors will help Australia harness AI opportunities while continuing to support the vitality of our creative sector.

“The reference group will complement other AI-related government initiatives, including the work being led by the Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic on the safe and responsible use of AI.”

Dreyfus added that the reference group comes as a result of a number of roundtables he had initiated throughout the year made up of “more than 50 peak bodies and other organisations”, with the fourth and final being held yesterday (4 December).

As previously mentioned, Australian copyright law does not currently cover AI, meaning it isn’t given moral rights, which include the right to be attributed as a work’s author.

Despite this, the Arts Law Centre of Australia advises that creators still indicate that AI was used in the development of work.

“‘Transparency and explainability’ is one of “Australia’s AI Ethics Principles” developed by the Australian government as part of ‘Australia’s Artificial Intelligence Ethics Framework’,” it said.

“These principles are not legally binding, but helpful guidance on best practice when working with AI.”

Dreyfus said that more information regarding the reference group, as well as the other outcomes of the most recent roundtable, will be available on the Attorney-General’s Department’s website “in the near future”.

Daniel Croft

Daniel Croft

Born in the heart of Western Sydney, Daniel Croft is a passionate journalist with an understanding for and experience writing in the technology space. Having studied at Macquarie University, he joined Momentum Media in 2022, writing across a number of publications including Australian Aviation, Cyber Security Connect and Defence Connect. Outside of writing, Daniel has a keen interest in music, and spends his time playing in bands around Sydney.

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