AGSC Reject the Productivity Commission’s Interim Report

August 2025

The Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC) join with colleagues across the creative industries in rejecting the recommendation of the Productivity Commission floating a text and data mining exception to Australia’s Copyright Act which would provide legal cover for AI companies to use copyright works without permission or payment for training their systems.

Implementation of such an exception to the Copyright Act would have devastating consequences for screen composers and composers of all music. It would devastate Australia’s $9 billion music industry and destroy the livelihoods of Australian screen composers and many creative industry workers.

“We have seen the widespread theft of creators content across the world with numerous court cases in the United State challenging this practice,” noted Dale Cornelius, President of the AGSC and screen composer.

The Productivity Commission acknowledges in its report that “large AI models are already being trained on unlicensed copyrighted materials” and that “lawsuits have been brought against technology companies” over this practice. Rather than supporting creatives in their fight to protect their rights as outlined in the Copyright Act, they propose ways to legitimise unauthorised use retrospectively.

The AGSC urges the government to reject these recommendations to protect the rights and remuneration of music creators across all genres and to reaffirm its commitment under its cultural policy to preserve and support the Australian creative sector.

“If we don’t stand up for the rights and freedoms of content creators now, we will lose the unique Australian character of our creativity and billions of dollars that Australian intellectual property contributes to our national economy,” said Dale Cornelius.

For interviews or other comments please contact Kingston Anderson at the AGSC by emailing agsc@agsc.org.au.