Australian author Anna Funder has called on the government to protect copyright law against big tech companies that are using creative works to train artificial intelligence systems without consent or payment. Speaking after a visit to Canberra with a group of creatives, Funder said that US tech companies are lobbying to change copyright law to legalize the use of copyrighted material without compensation.
Big tech's 'special sauce'
Funder, author of Stasiland and Wifedom, said that big tech companies refer to books as their 'special sauce' because they provide the high-quality text needed for AI language models. She described how companies have used illegal pirate websites and physically scanned books to ingest copyrighted works. 'They know its value, and they did anything to get it,' she said.
Copyright as property
Funder emphasized that copyright is a property right, similar to real estate. She noted that without copyright, creators would not produce work if it could be stolen immediately. 'All my books have been ingested into AI computer programs without my consent and without payment,' she said.
Legal battles and settlements
Funder referenced the Bartz v Anthropic case in the US, where a US$1.5 billion settlement was awarded to authors. However, she said that legal action is not the way forward, noting that she will receive only US$3,000 for one stolen edition of her book All That I Am. 'Legal action is not the way to go here,' she said.
Government lobbying
Funder said that big tech companies, including Google, Meta, and Anthropic, have been lobbying the Australian government to weaken copyright. She rejected the claim that gutting copyright is linked to building AI data centres. 'What they really want is to find a way to make the creative product of our country available to them for free, or for peanuts,' she said.
Proposed compulsory acquisition
Funder said that big tech is reportedly proposing a scheme where the government would compulsorily acquire copyright and hand it over to tech companies for a pittance. She said this would turn creators into recipients of government handouts. 'It is out of the question,' she said.
Negotiation is possible
Funder argued that it is not difficult to negotiate consent and payment for using copyrighted works. She said that the Australian Society of Authors estimates it would take six phone calls to find rights holders and start negotiating for most book industry copyright work. 'That's a lot less effortful than what big tech had to do to ingest the books in the first place,' she said.
History of copyright
Funder noted that copyright has existed for 316 years, since the 1710 Statute of Anne. She said that the development of democracy has gone hand in hand with copyright, and that places where copyright was not respected, like East Germany, did not fare well. 'We don't want to live in a country where copyright is not respected,' she said.
