SBS Warns AI Copyright Opt-Out Burdens Creators as Broadcasters Seek Tougher Rules

SBS has warned an Australian parliamentary inquiry that an AI copyright opt-out would leave rights holders policing an ever-changing set of training bots. Alongside the ABC, it wants obligations placed on AI companies instead, including commercial deals to support journalism. The submissions, reported by the Guardian, challenge Anthropic’s proposed route to training on Australian copyrighted works: conditional approval backed by website signals telling bots not to access content.

A website instruction is only part of the protection

Anthropic’s proposal uses robots.txt files, which tell automated bots what they may and may not access on a website. A rights holder could post a “do not crawl” signal to indicate that its content should not be accessed. The mechanism gives publishers a way to express a restriction; SBS’s objection concerns whether that restriction would provide effective protection.

SBS argued that these signals are routinely ignored or bypassed. It also said blocking evolving training bots requires rights holders to keep monitoring and updating their protections. Its criticism targets the work needed to maintain an opt-out, not simply the availability of a file in which to record one.

The proposal follows the government’s rejection of a broad text-and-data-mining copyright exemption. Anthropic acknowledged that the exception lacked widespread support and instead requested a “narrow form of conditional approval” for model training. It also said it was open to supporting Australian creators.

Robots.txt mechanisms are routinely ignored or bypassed, and the blocking of ever-evolving training bots increases the burden on rightsholders to monitor and update protections, when the onus should be on AI companies to avoid wrongdoing

SBS, in its parliamentary inquiry submission

The broadcasters want obligations beyond training access

The ABC’s submission extends the dispute from permission to use content into the treatment of AI services as publishers. It argued that those services receive more favourable treatment than established Australian media and described the current system as anti-competitive. Its demands address both legal accountability and the financial support of news production.

Two requested obligations

• Media-law accountability: The ABC wants AI companies subject to the same copyright, defamation and privacy rules as media outlets.
• Journalism funding: Both the ABC and SBS want AI companies included in the news bargaining incentive, requiring commercial deals with large media outlets to support journalism.

News sustainability is the broadcasters’ stated concern

The ABC warned that unequal treatment would accelerate the “cannibalisation” of Australian news. SBS framed the risk more broadly, arguing that language models’ use of news without permission, attribution or compensation threatens the industry’s sustainability, information integrity and public trust.

The joint select committee on AI is scheduled to hold hearings in Sydney the week after the Guardian’s October 1 report, with executives from Anthropic and OpenAI expected to attend.