ARIA chief tells Australian parliament OpenAI and Anthropic seek copyright carve-out for training; warns of 'Trojan horse for Big AI'

What happened

Annabelle Herd, chief executive of the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) and the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia (PPCA), testified at an October 6, 2026 parliamentary hearing in Sydney that OpenAI and Anthropic are seeking Australian approval to train their frontier AI agents without abiding by the country's copyright laws. Herd said the companies want the government to "sign up to a deal to train their frontier AI agents here on the proviso that they don't have to abide by our copyright laws," arguing that licensing would be too costly and complex. She urged AI developers to come to the negotiating table and license content rather than seek changes to copyright law.

Why it may matter to you

Herd warned that accommodating the companies could turn Australia into a "Trojan horse for Big AI" — a global haven for large-scale copyright exploitation — and that more permissive Australian rules could undermine licensing rights for musicians, writers, and other creators worldwide. The hearing forms part of an Australian parliamentary review of AI and copyright; a committee report is expected by November 30, 2026, and licensing/enforcement options, including an opt-out-style arrangement, remain under discussion. In October 2025 the government had already ruled out a broad text-and-data-mining exception.

What is not yet known

What recommendation the committee will make, and whether any licensing deal between the labs and Australian rights holders results. The item records testimony and submissions as reported; the companies' positions are drawn from reported submissions, not direct statements in this report.