Unions and media bosses align on protecting creative workers and their industries

Reporting today shows that business peaks and bosses from Australia’s creative and journalism industries and unions are aligned in insisting on stronger protections for Australian workers and their industries from the rampant theft perpetrated by multinational tech companies.

Calls from the large multinational tech sector and regurgitated by the Productivity Commission for a copyright exemption for AI firms while they train their new models would see creative workers, journalists and academics’ work stolen to build the profit of some of the world’s biggest companies and richest people.

Australian Unions stand alongside industry representatives in demanding that protections in copyright law should not be watered down and these protections must be fit for an AI age.

It is completely unacceptable that technology platforms would be permitted to use and profit from the content produced by Australian journalists, creatives and publishers without permission or payment.

It is also not appropriate for big tech to steal Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders’ cultural output without consent or remuneration.

Quotes attributable to ACTU Assistant Secretary, Joseph Mitchell:

“We already know that big tech has been profiting from stealing the work of Australia’s creative workers and journalists and calls to legitimise this theft are incomprehensible.

“Australia’s cultural identity is built of the labour of our creative workers, and our democracy cannot function without strong journalists.

“Unions are aligned with news media and employer organisations in calling for clear and robust protections for these industries. If a workers’ output is used to build a more profitable model, then they deserve to be paid and share in the success of that model.

“Unions are firmly opposed to any watering down of our copyright laws and want to ensure that they are robust enough to withstand the significant global tech changes that are occurring.”

Quote attributable to Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance Chief Executive, Erin Madeley:

“To ensure Australia is a place where ideas can be tested in the public domain, we must protect our journalists and creatives from having their work scraped and stolen by AI tech platforms. Without these protections, investment in journalism and creative content will be at more risk and that’s bad news.”