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Anthony Albanese’s favourite bands beg PM to stop AI companies from stealing their work
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Anthony Albanese's favorite Australian musicians are urgently pleading with the prime minister to protect their copyrights from artificial intelligence companies that have already scraped their work without permission. Powderfinger's Bernard Fanning, the Go-Betweens' Lindy Morrison, and Spiderbait's Janet English all voiced their concerns to Guardian Australia, calling on Albanese to resist industry proposals that would weaken copyright laws in exchange for tech investment.
Big tech companies are lobbying the Australian government to water down copyright protections, allowing them to scrape journalism, music, and books to train AI models. A recent industry proposal would commit more than $50 billion in data center investment and establish a $350 million fund to compensate creatives in exchange for looser copyright rules—a deal Senator David Pocock has branded the “ultimate dirty deal.” The Albanese government has insisted it has no plans to weaken protections, having ruled out a text and data mining exemption last year, but musicians are sounding the alarm after discovering their work had already been scraped.
Fanning, whose band Powderfinger was featured in Albanese's DJ Albo playlists, described the scraping as a violation. “We have always been very careful about where our music is placed, and this upends that consideration,” he said. He argued that a robot could never write iconic Australian songs, adding, “We have an important opportunity to put down a marker that says, ‘Our government is prepared to be on the side of Australian artists and storytellers.’” He urged the PM to ensure artists have the legal right to opt out.
Morrison, drummer for the Go-Betweens—whose song "Cattle and Cane" is among Albanese's top 10—highlighted the need for new laws. She noted that AI has sampled 95 of the band's songs and expressed frustration over unpaid use. “From sampling to P2P filesharing, I’ve always cared about copyright infringement. Every time there’s a new technological change, we need new laws,” she said, questioning how self-releasing artists would get paid.
English, whose band Spiderbait also made Albanese's top 10, called the situation an outright theft. “We haven’t given consent or been compensated, it’s just been swiped. How is this fair? It’s as if you walked on to a farm and stole all the crops,” she said. The bands fear that any weakening of copyright would put Australian artists at a massive disadvantage, undermining their livelihoods and cultural contributions.
The government faces pressure to act decisively. While it has ruled out an exemption, no new legislation has been introduced. Creatives demand clear opt-out rights and compensation mechanisms, emphasizing that copyright law must evolve to address AI-driven infringement. As Albanese has built his public image around loving Australian music, these personal appeals from his favorite bands carry significant weight, potentially shaping the outcome of a debate that could define the future of Australian creativity.
