Australian Authors Demand Government Not Hand Over Books to AI Companies for Free

Australian writers, artists, and musicians arrived in Canberra in early July 2026 to demand that the government not surrender copyright to American AI companies: their books, songs, films, and paintings have already been loaded into training datasets without the authors' consent and without any compensation.

Why did authors come to Canberra?

Representatives of the most diverse creative professions came to the capital: book authors, musicians, filmmakers, artists, including masters of indigenous Australian art. All of them earn a living selling their creative work — books, albums, films, and paintings. But their works have significance beyond the market: it is through culture, authors believe, that Australians learn their identity and maintain connection with each other.

A blow to copyright is a blow to two things at once: to authors' personal income and to the country's cultural sovereignty. The delegation came to the government with this dual argument.

What AI companies took without permission

Australian writer Anna Fander explained the mechanics of copyright through her own example: she licenses books to publishers worldwide, they publish and sell them, and she receives 8-12% of revenue as royalties. According to her, copyright is arranged the same way as the Torrens law on property rights for real estate — a basic legal guarantee that what you create belongs to you. Without it, creating anything simply makes no sense.

And this violation has already occurred. All of Fander's books have been loaded into American AI programs without her consent and without any compensation. A similar story applies to every delegation member.

• Books, songs, films, paintings, and works of indigenous artists are included in training datasets without licensing agreements
• Standard author income — 8-12% of the publisher's realization price
• Not a single permission from copyright holders was obtained
• Not a single licensing payment was made

"Without copyright, nobody would create anything.

Why would they if it can be immediately stolen?" — Anna Fander.

What American AI companies are seeking

Technology corporations from the US building businesses on generative AI are seeking access to Australian creative content for free or at symbolic rates. Essentially, they want to use the results of years of work by thousands of authors as training data without market compensation — books that took years to write, songs and films with multimillion-dollar budgets.

Authors appeal to a fundamental principle: Australia is a country where honesty is considered a basic value. They count on this in negotiations with the government. Their question is simple: will the government side with its citizens or with American corporations?

What does this mean

The global discussion about copyright and AI training is intensifying: courts in the US, UK, and EU are examining lawsuits from publishers, authors, and musicians. Australia finds itself at a point where the government's position could set a precedent for the region.

Authors insist: a country with longstanding traditions of property rights protection cannot establish weaker standards for intellectual property than for physical property. If protection weakens under pressure from AI lobbies — this sends a signal to the world. If current norms hold — authors in other countries will gain substantial precedent for demanding licensing payments from AI companies.