Labor MP Ed Husic has warned that weakening copyright law to benefit artificial intelligence companies would betray the founding ethos of the Labor party, which he said was built on the principle of 'a fair day's pay for a fair day's work'. Husic urged his colleagues to impose stricter regulations on big tech firms, cautioning that self-regulation was 'doomed to failure'.
Husic: Self-regulation has failed
Speaking to Sky News on Tuesday, Husic said the federal government should set strong rules rather than rely on industry self-regulation. 'If we were to wait for social licence with industry, we wouldn't get emissions reduction. Governments sometimes have to step in,' he said. 'We've tried this. Going down the path of social licence with tech is a path that's sadly doomed to failure, because we tried self-regulation for a couple of decades and found out that it didn't work.'
MEAA calls for tougher copyright rules
The Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA), the union representing journalists, artists and creatives, has called on the government to enact tougher new copyright rules to prevent creative works from being used to train AI models without consent or compensation. A MEAA spokesperson said: 'The benefits of AI cannot be captured by the same global entertainment and tech giants that already profit from our members' work – it must be the workers who benefit.' The union urged the government to consider rules for equitable remuneration, guaranteeing workers like authors and musicians 'a guaranteed, inalienable right to be paid' when their work is used by AI systems.
Prime Minister's speech on AI
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is set to deliver a major speech on artificial intelligence in Sydney on Wednesday, addressing concerns around social licence and necessary policy guardrails for AI, datacentres and Australian intellectual property. However, he is not expected to detail progress on long-awaited copyright reforms to protect creative industries. Cabinet discussions on copyright reforms are continuing, with a diversity of views among senior ministers following lobbying from big tech and an industry proposal to grant AI companies special copyright exemptions.
Treasury warned about Anthropic complaints
Documents released under freedom of information laws reveal that Treasury officials warned Treasurer Jim Chalmers that Anthropic would complain copyright rules were 'impeding the development of datacentres' in Australia, ahead of a meeting with the company's chief executive, Dario Amodei. Husic, the former minister for industry, strongly opposed any such copyright changes. 'I'm from the Labor side of politics. We've grown up with the notion of a fair day's pay for a fair day's work – that people should be remunerated fairly for the labour, the effort that they provide. If you're a Labor person arguing to water down the Copyright Act, you're actually going against the ethos of your own party,' he said.
Husic: No-go zone for unpaid use of work
Asked whether he thought his colleagues were advocating for weaker copyright, Husic replied: 'Obviously, there's a debate that's going on behind the scenes. Clearly, there's elements of this being teased out. Otherwise we wouldn't be getting this type of media speculation about what might happen.' He added: 'These companies – Anthropic, OpenAI – these are going to be the biggest or are already the biggest firms on the planet. Their executives get paid for their work, and if they're expecting others to hand over their work without being paid, that is just a no-go zone and should be resisted.'
Concerns over datacentre developments
Albanese's speech comes amid growing scrutiny on AI and datacentres, particularly their energy-intensive nature and the land, capital and workforce requirements. Labor minister Sam Rae and backbencher Alice Jordan-Baird released a statement last week raising concerns about a massive new development at Plumpton, in Melbourne's outer west, backing community worries about impact on local energy, water, traffic and noise issues. 'Our community deserves clear answers, genuine consultation and transparent planning processes … The west cannot simply become the destination for infrastructure that places additional strain on resources while delivering little in return,' they said.
MEAA demands long-term solutions
The MEAA said the government needed to outline its plans on copyright and announce 'long-term solutions' to protect creative workers from exploitation by AI companies. The union urged the government to explicitly bar AI firms from training their models on creative works without consent and payment to the original creator.
