Key Takeaways
- Commission Findings: The Productivity Commission’s report supports maintaining current copyright laws.
- Licensing Benefits: Licensing is deemed beneficial for both AI developers and content creators.
- Industry Support: Major artists and organizations advocate for strong copyright protections.
- Future Monitoring: The government plans to monitor AI’s impact on copyright over the next three years.
SYDNEY, Australia — ARIA and APRA AMCOS have welcomed the results of the Productivity Commission’s year-long inquiry which both rules out changes to the existing copyright act and concludes that licensing is an appropriate tactic for AI companies keen to access copyright-protected content.
Published last Friday, Dec. 19, and handed to the government on Dec. 10, the Commission’s final report on Harnessing data and digital technology concludes it would be “premature to make changes to Australia’s copyright laws.”
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Licensing, the text reads, “creates more incentives for the production of new creative content, to the benefit of both the public and AI developers.”
The PC has “recognized what the creative sector has argued for over two years,” comments APRA AMCOS CEO Dean Ormston, “that licensing of creative copyright content provides the pathway for AI development while ensuring creators are fairly compensated.”
Adds ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd: “These findings reinforce what Australian creators and rights holders have consistently argued across 2025: our copyright system is robust, fit for purpose, and should be allowed to do its job in protecting the value of Australian culture.”
As previously reported, Attorney-General Michelle Rowland on Oct. 27 announced the federal government wouldn’t water down existing copyright protections, essentially shutting down the creative sectors’ concerns that an exemption would be carved out for text and data mining (TDM).
“It’s a great result,” a label source tells Billboard, one that sees the music industry and its allies win an arm wrestle with the tech sector, which assembled through the Tech Council.
What a difference a few months make. In August, the Productivity Commission dropped its interim report, which recommended a new fair dealing exception for TDM.
The music industry swung into action, as the likes of ARIA Award winners Missy Higgins and The Presets’ Julian Hamilton, Kate Ceberano, and Midnight Oil frontman and former Labor frontbencher Peter Garrett stepped forward to advocate for rights holders.
Even Spotify distanced itself from the tech giants, siding instead with the artist community, and pointing out that “musicians’ rights matter. Copyright is essential.”
In September, a delegation of industry professionals and high-profile artists, including Holly Rankin (Jack River), Adam Briggs, and Paul Dempsey, attended a Senate committee hearing, where they appealed for stronger copyright protections.
Their words, it would appear, became action.
“Rather than a barrier, copyright is the framework that allows innovation and creativity to coexist. We are thrilled to see that recognized,” says ARIA’s Herd.
The recorded music industry is “ready and willing to work collaboratively with AI companies,” reckons Herd. The record business and its many players are “well-established, experienced licensors and can efficiently license the music datasets needed for AI innovation,” she notes. “We look forward to getting to work.”
The Commission is the Australian government’s independent research and advisory body on economic, social and environmental issues affecting the welfare of Australians.
With its probe, the PC was tasked with identifying the highest priority reform areas under each of five pillars which have “potential to materially boost Australia’s productivity growth going forward.”
The document also recommends that the government monitor the development of AI and its interaction with copyright holders over the next three years by looking closely at licensing markets for open web materials, the effect of AI on creative incomes generated by copyright royalties, and how overseas courts set limits to AI-related copyright exceptions, especially fair use.
Read the full report here.
