by Mr. Palatino
This post is part of Global Voices’ April 2026 Spotlight Series, “Human perspective on AI” This series will provide insight in How AI is being used in the majority of countries worldwide, how its use and application is affecting individual communities, what this AI experiment might mean for future generations, and more. You can support this coverage by donating here.
Australian artists, journalists and Indigenous cultural activists have launched the “Stop AI Theft” campaign to demand stronger protections for their creative output amid the growing use of generative artificial intelligence (AI).
Tech Council of Australia Report August 2025 sees 84 percent of Australians in office jobs using AI at work. According to Tech Council research, AI in Australia can made up AUD 115 billion (over USD 79 billion) in annual economic value and 200,000 jobs by 2030.
But widespread adoption of AI has raised concerns about its potential harm to society, including significant disruption to the creative industries. In recent years, artists have argued that AI is undermining their livelihoods and, in some cases, stealing their work outright. Many popular generative AI models illegally scraped Content from the Internet, which models use to create “new” content, without the permission of the creators In some cases, the models spit almost identical elements to the original copyrighted item
A group of singers said it was their job clone Unbeknownst to them. Local journalists said their reports were stolen used On AI-generated news websites. A January 2026 report published by the University of Sydney to warn That generative AI is increasingly making journalists invisible in search results. Meanwhile, indigenous activists say people have used generative AI models to produce and sell fake Indigenous art.
Citing the need to address the harmful effects of AI, artists and media activists have come together to launch the “Stop AI Theft” campaign. Erin Madeley, chief executive of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance summary Campaign Rationale.
For the big Silicon Valley tech companies that own these machines, their business model is built on taking other people’s work and selling it as their own, and what we’ve seen so far is the thin end of the wedge.
It’s theft, plain and simple – stealing people’s voices, their faces, their music, their stories and art.
If unchecked, the increased use of AI tools in the media, arts and creative industries will lead to massive job losses and the end of intellectual property as we know it.
This will lead to our loss of news and information to the point where the community cannot tell fact from fiction.
Activists started the campaign with the hashtag #PayUp, to emphasize that big tech companies are profiting from the work of artists while the artists themselves are constantly losing business.
As authorities seek to increase AI-related investment, they have considered reforms early on Copyright Law To allow AI to mine and train local online content. This was the opposition By local content creators and media organizations.
In July 2024, MEAA appeared at a Senate Select Committee hearing on the adoption of artificial intelligence and Raise the following claim To the government.
Give users the ability to opt-out of having their work used for AI training.
Enact legislation to compel companies to compensate creative and media workers for work used to train AI.
Enact rules around transparency to force companies to publicly disclose what materials they have used to train AI.
In addition to lobbying for policy measures, the “Stop AI Theft” campaign encouraged local artists to sign one. open letter Addressed to Silicon Valley technology companies.
Dear CEOs and owners of Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Open AI and X,
We are enablers of cultural production and dissemination within all communities and across generations. Our work is the vital lifeblood of healthy democracies and functioning societies.
Our output is unique and original, and you are stealing it.
We will not sit idly by while you devalue our work and degrade our society. Our work is not a free input to feed your machine.
We demand payment when our work is used by your company and we demand compensation for the work you stole from us.
“We already know that big tech is profiting by stealing the work of Australian creatives and journalists, and the call to legalize this theft is incomprehensible,” said Joseph Mitchell, Assistant Secretary, Australian Council of Trade Unions.
“Stop AI Theft” campaign held the dialogue With tech firms in August 2025 on transparency and remuneration demands.
It celebrated the federal government’s announcement in October 2025 to maintain copyright laws protection Local artists and creative workers.
This commitment was reflected in the National AI Plan unveiling In December 2025 by Govt.
Australia has strong safeguards to address many risks, but technology is moving fast and regulation must be dynamic. That is why the government continues to assess the suitability of existing laws in the context of AI.
The government has provided certainty to Australian creators and media workers by repealing a text and data mining exception to Australian copyright law.
the latest Update The “Stop AI Theft” campaign acknowledged success in fending off pressure from tech companies to change copyright laws that would give them free access to Australian creative work for AI training.
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Previously published with globalvoices.org Creative Commons License
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