Scott Farquhar, CEO of the Tech Council of Australia and Atlassian co-founder, has called for Australia to adopt US-style copyright exemptions to allow AI to train on creative works for free, warning that current laws risk harming investment. Speaking on ABC's 7.30 program, he argued that without such changes, AI development in Australia could be stifled.
Farquhar's proposal hinges on the concept of 'transformative use', where AI creates something new and novel from existing content. He claimed that using copyrighted material for AI training should be considered fair use unless it directly copies an artist or competes with the original creator. However, critics note that US law is far from settled on this issue, with dozens of lawsuits challenging AI companies' use of fair use as a defence.
The US Copyright Office's May report highlighted that AI training can cause significant market harm, even if outputs are not identical to the original works. It warned that AI-generated content could dilute markets for similar works, affecting industries like news and music. The report stopped short of recommending legislative intervention, noting that voluntary licensing agreements are already emerging.
Farquhar's stance overlooks the potential devastation to creative industries, where AI summaries and chatbots already reduce traffic to original sources. While he argues that transformative use justifies free training, the lack of guarantees that AI will not harm existing markets remains a key concern for creators and legal experts alike.
