Stop AI Theft

Stop AI Theft

Australians are worried about the rise of AI – and they have every right to be.

A recent survey of MEAA members in the creative and media industries found that 71% are extremely concerned about the loss of human-led creativity.

Big Tech and AI developers—including Meta, Google, and OpenAI—have scraped millions of images, songs, articles, and films without consent, compensation, or knowledge. This isn’t innovation—it’s theft. These business models displace human work and undermine the integrity of our cultural and media landscape.

That’s why we are now demanding these big AI developers pay up!

Why ...

Australians are worried about the rise of AI – and they have every right to be.

A recent survey of MEAA members in the creative and media industries found that 71% are extremely concerned about the loss of human-led creativity.

Big Tech and AI developers—including Meta, Google, and OpenAI—have scraped millions of images, songs, articles, and films without consent, compensation, or knowledge. This isn’t innovation—it’s theft. These business models displace human work and undermine the integrity of our cultural and media landscape.

That’s why we are now demanding these big AI developers pay up!

Why it matters:

  • Accuracy and ethics at risk: AI-generated content can spread misinformation and erode public trust.
  • Human creativity undermined: artists, writers, performers, and media professionals are being replaced by machine-made imitations.
  • Jobs and integrity threatened: without strong protections, the creative and media workforce—and the democratic role it plays—will be hollowed out.

We need strong laws to protect Australia’s creative and media workforce. AI developers must be forced to pay for the theft and displacement of work.

That’s why MEAA is demanding these big AI developers pay up – with compensation passed on to creative and media workers.

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Stop Meta’s AI Theft

Because of Australia’s weak laws, Meta is able to scrape users’ public posts on Facebook and Instagram to train their AI technology.

This means that all the photos, videos, and text that you have posted to Facebook and Instagram as part of your work can be used to train their AI technology without consent or compensation.

Join the fight to stop Meta stealing your content to train its Artificial Intelligence technology. 

It’s time for the government to act: creative and media workers need strong legal protections so they are compensated and can control how their work is used by AI.