Senators and Recording Industry Warn AI Copyright Changes Could Breach Australian Constitution

Coalition senators and the recording industry have warned that changing copyright law to let AI companies scrape music, books and journalism could breach Australia's constitution, The Guardian reported. To scrape means to automatically copy or collect content from the internet, and copyright is the legal right of creators and owners to control how their work is used.

Critics also warned that the change could open Australia to large legal action and compensation claims from rights holders around the world. Nationals senator Ross Cadell, who sits on the federal parliamentary committee on AI, said Australia could be liable for "just terms" compensation for acquiring that property for every rights holder on Earth. Under the constitution, property the government takes must be paid for on just terms, meaning on fair terms.

Section 51 of the constitution gives the Commonwealth, the federal government, power to make laws about acquiring property on just terms. Anne Twomey, professor emerita of law at the University of Sydney, said there was potentially a concern that granting AI companies permission to scrape copyrighted material could amount to an acquisition of property by the government, depending on how the legislation was drafted. She noted that High Court cases on copyright and property acquisition, involving video games, cigarette plain packaging and cassette tapes, have had varying outcomes. The High Court is Australia's highest court.

The Attorney-General's Department said it was "extremely alive" to the constitutional question of acquisition of property.

Anthropic, an AI company, has suggested an opt-out model. Under that approach, it could scrape content unless a rights holder used digital protections to signal an objection.

The political debate centres on how far to go. Shadow attorney-general Michaelia Cash said the government should not sell out Australian creators and rights holders in the rush to attract AI investment. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has promised the strongest possible protection for creatives, and has said it would be theft if creatives were not paid for their work. Attorney-General Michelle Rowland's spokesperson said the government was committed to supporting creatives and pledged that any future copyright changes would deliver meaningful control and fair compensation.

The government has said it is consulting on possible updates to Australia's copyright laws to prepare for future challenges from emerging AI. A joint select committee on artificial intelligence, a parliamentary panel formed by both houses of parliament, was appointed on 20 August 2026. The Australian has reported that a senior staffer in Albanese's office was identified as the creator of a letter used to push for copyright law changes. Polling reported by Politico found Australian voters would prefer changes that give creatives some compensation over arrangements in which AI companies use their work without paying.