Warnings that Australian AI copyright changes could breach the constitution and trigger compensation claims

Summary

Coalition senators and the recording industry have warned that altering copyright law to let AI companies scrape music, books and journalism could breach the Australian constitution and open the country to large compensation claims from rights holders worldwide. The attorney general's department said it was 'extremely alive' to the issue. Anne Twomey, Australia's leading constitutional expert, agreed there was 'potentially' a concern, depending on how legislation was drafted, that granting AI companies permission to scrape copyrighted material from the internet could amount to an acquisition of property by the government.

Timeline

1. The Guardian

   30 Oct 2026, 14:00 UTCSource ↗

   The Guardian reports that Coalition senators and the recording industry warn that changing copyright law to let AI companies scrape music, books and journalism could breach the constitution and expose Australia to compensation claims from rights holders worldwide.