• by Ray Schultz , Yesterday

The News/Media Alliance, a U.S. organization serving over 2,200 publishers, has stepped into a troubling debate in Australia.  

In an interim report on harnessing data and digital technology, the Australian Productivity Commission floated the possibility of creating a TDM (text and data mining) exception to incentivize AI development in Australia.

What does that mean? 

The group explains that “U.S. copyright law is fundamentally based on an opt-in framework and does not provide for a blanket exception for AI-related copying.” And it states that a broad TDM exception would move Australia further away from the United States.

“The experiences of other countries suggest that a broad TDM exception would fail to spur local technology development and reduce creative and journalistic incentives,” the Alliance argues in a letter to the Commission. "A broad TDM exception could threaten Australian creative industries, while ironically entrenching the dominance of global Big Tech firms.” 

The Alliance also argues: “Publishers rely on copyright, their ability to control the uses of their works, and to enforce their rights against those who misappropriate their content without licensing or compensation. TDM exceptions for commercial uses reverse the basis of the copyright system that has served all stakeholders well for centuries.”

The letter concludes: “We strongly urge the Commission to reject any suggestion that a TDM exception is warranted in Australia or, at the very least, limit such an exception to non-commercial research uses with meaningful safeguards.”