Kylie Minogue and Nick Cave music allegedly used in AI training, according to publishers

Australia is something of an international outlier when it comes to copyright protections for commercial AI training. 62 countries have considered potential changes to copyright protections, The Guardian Australia reported, but only one of the 62 countries - Australia - has introduced a new "text-and-data-mining" exception and has not agreed to improve copyright holders' exclusive rights. A text-and-data-mining exception would essentially mean that an artist's back catalogue cannot be mass-analysed and pilfered from. In many cases, artists can - and do - opt out of AI training clauses as part of their contracts with labels and publishers. The International Confederation of Music Publishers, which represents Sony, Warner, Universal, and others, accused AI companies of pushing Australian policymakers towards a system that allows training on copyrighted material without asking for licenses. John Phelan, its managing director, said: “They're trying to strong-arm Australian policymakers into ‘if you don't do this, we won't invest.’” He argued that the cost of developing AI models, pressure to generate returns, and US copyright litigation is likely panicking companies and forcing them to...