South Australian Liberal senator Andrew McLachlan has criticised the approach of both his own party and the Labor government to artificial intelligence, urging that artists' copyright must not be traded away for investment, The Guardian reports. He said creative works should not be sacrificed to corporate profit and that new datacentres must not take priority over environmental concerns.
Labor is weighing copyright changes as part of a wider AI policy package. Some AI companies say they need legal certainty before investing in Australia, and Anthropic has proposed an opt-out model that would let it use music, books and journalism unless rights holders object. McLachlan also backed suggestions that weakening copyright could face a constitutional challenge as an unlawful acquisition of property. The music industry has warned against any dilution of existing protections.
Source: The Guardian