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Kylie Minogue songs already used to train AI as tech firms ‘strong-arm’ Australian government, music body warns
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The International Confederation of Music Publishers (ICMP) says AI has trained on works by Australian artists including Kylie Minogue and Nick Cave without compensation. The music rights body warned Australia against “strong-arming” by tech companies seeking weaker copyright laws. ICMP managing director John Phelan said AI companies were asking policymakers to “legitimise larceny.”
Phelan said AI firms warned Australia would lose investment unless copyright rules changed. In July, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it would be “theft” if artists did not control AI training and payment. Music, film, media and news groups have raised concerns about closed-door lobbying by global tech companies.
This week, a parliamentary AI committee called the issue a stalemate. In a joint letter, Labor chair Jo Briskey and Liberal deputy chair Jonathon Duniam urged the government to examine copyright settings while ensuring creators keep control and are paid. Independent senator David Pocock said the committee’s position appeared predetermined after staffer edits in the letter; Briskey rejected that.
The ICMP has tracked AI companies’ attempts to change copyright law across jurisdictions. Phelan highlighted training methods such as spreadsheets containing millions of lines of music from YouTube. The AI industry claims its models are not trained on Australian content, but ICMP evidence showed Google’s Gemini could reproduce lyrics from Minogue, G-Flip and Cave.
Phelan also cited an AI training dataset reported by the Atlantic in June, containing more than 12 million songs pulled from YouTube videos, including tracks from Minogue, Cave and Hilltop Hoods. Google was approached for comment. Phelan said 62 countries had considered legal changes, but none of the other 61 had accepted AI companies’ demands.
“The world is very much watching what Australia does,” Phelan said. The ICMP said global music and creative industries are appalled by any statutory scheme or government deal that interferes with Australian industries’ contracts worldwide. Anthropic’s special envoy, Jeffrey Bleich, told the AI committee last week that the company was not trying to dictate terms but had shared information about training and its implications.
