Write us a cheque: Australian authors, musicians want AI forced to pay for using their work

Australian authors who successfully sued artificial intelligence giant Anthropic for covertly scraping their work are urging the government to stand its ground against lobbying from the sector to weaken domestic copyright laws. Dozens of writers, songwriters, and musicians, including Hunters and Collectors frontman Mark Seymour, authors Anna Funder and Andy Griffiths and singer Holly Rankin, who performs as Jack River, descended on Canberra on Wednesday amid renewed speculation the government was considering carve-outs to copyright law for big tech. Jack River was joined by other artists calling on the government to protect copyrights in the face of AI. AI giants such as Anthropic, Microsoft and Google are discussing data centre construction expansion in Australia with the government, and have pushed for easier access to local content to train AI in exchange for the billions of dollars in investment. Independent senator David Pocock reignited the debate last week when he revealed a cabinet whistleblower’s claim that the government was still considering the trade-off despite publicly ruling out a text and data mining exemption in October. Pocock demanded in the Senate on Wednesday that the government rule out such a deal. “My office was tipped off about a massively concerning secret plan being worked on by government to sell out Australian creatives’ work to multinational AI companies,” Pocock said. “The government has criticised me a lot, but has not denied it because it’s true. The government needs to get up in this place and categorically rule out any carve out, any exemption, any watering down of copyright exemptions now and into the future.” A spokesperson for Attorney-General Michelle Rowland rejected the claim, and said the government had “no plans to weaken copyright protections when it comes to AI”. “We are committed to ensuring that Australia has a fit for-purpose copyright framework that protects and supports Australia’s creative and media industries while unlocking AI innovation,” they said. Several authors told reporters at Parliament House on Wednesday that artificial intelligence giants were scraping their content without permission or payment, despite artists being prepared to make deals for fair compensation. Andy Griffiths said he built his career on copyright deals. Current Australian Children’s Laureate Andy Griffiths rejected the argument that tech giants would not build their data centres in Australia without broader access to content. Griffiths is party to a class-action lawsuit against Anthropic in the United States, where the training of AI models takes place, and said it was “outrageous” that creators had to go to such lengths. Anthropic agreed to a $US1.5 billion settlement last year after using pirated copies of authors’ books to train its large-language models. “We are aware that there are many AI representatives trying desperately to find a loophole and to pressure the government,” he said. “Those data centres will be built regardless. I think they’re just trying it on, and we’re encouraging the government to stand firm.” Griffith said he built his career on copyright deals, and feared allowing AI free rein over content would hurt the next generation of artists who would not be able to keep creating without royalties. Author Anna Funder said she was a victim of theft as she urged the government to stand firm against the tech giants. The Treehouse series author said 67 of his books and their translations had been scraped, but he was willing to negotiate with big tech when the companies were “ready to be civilised and come to me and ask permission”. “I’m not against big tech, but ... copyright is how art gets made, and if we undermine that, there will be no more art, not even to scrape,” he said. “We’re really open to seeing our work adapted and used in other mediums and formats, but it’s a deafening silence from the AI companies. Stasiland author Anna Funder, also party to the lawsuit, said she expected $US3000 for a single book title captured by the settlement, and that the litigation was not a sustainable solution. “Apparently, it takes six phone calls to copyright agencies and creators to negotiate a deal,” she said. “It’s not difficult to negotiate consent and payment; they just haven’t done it.” “Copyright is important for all of us to make a living, and for Australian culture to exist so that we know ourselves... but it’s also really important for democracy.” The government has pitched Australia as a destination for AI data centre investment, and tens of billions of dollars have been injected into the country, propping up economic growth. Investment in equipment and machinery largely destined for data centres soared to a record $12 million in NSW and $9.1 billion in Victoria in the first quarter of 2026. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s cabinet is split on the issue, with some senior ministers pushing for the government to take full advantage of an investment explosion that has surpassed that of the 2010s mining boom, while others insist the work of Australian creatives must be protected. The artists were backed by industry bodies including the Australian Recording Industry Association, the Australian Writers’ Guild, Free TV Australia and the Australian Publishers Association.