Senate Environment and Communications References Committee
OPENING STATEMENT: Matthew Deaner, CEO, Screen Producers Australia
I am the CEO of Screen Producers Australia and I represent around 800 screen producing businesses that range across the full extent of the business spectrum.
AI is delivering practical gains and productivity benefits in the Australian screen industry, particularly in administrative and production management workflows, but we believe that its use must sit on firm legal and market foundations.
Copyright concerns remain a live issue due to a number of issues including unlicensed training – as most models have been trained on copyrighted works without authorisation, infringing copyright.
SPA rejects a Text and Data Mining exemption that would let developers use works without paying, which cuts out the people who own the rights and weakens incentives to invest in and create new content.
SPA supports the creative industries position and campaign opposing the TDM exemption.
That’s because on the available evidence, weakening copyright through broad TDM exceptions has not been shown to improve AI capability or innovation.
AI systems should be adopted by production companies in a way that empowers the creatives and crew they employ, rather than replace them.
Turning to other critical issues pertaining to the screen industry:
This hearing is taking place at a time of heightened anxiety within the screen industry. Structural issues pertaining to the availability of local content on digital streaming platforms remain unaddressed.
Rising costs are putting all financing under pressure and funding for critical agencies at a federal and State level are not keeping pace.
Investment by commercial free-to-air broadcasters in drama, documentary and children’s programs has collapsed since the 2021 deregulation.
Our national broadcasters are still struggling with years of budget cuts that will have not been revived. Important tax reform commitments remain stalled for years, and there’s little progress on the host of other reforms that our industry needs to stay in the tough and highly competitive global game.
Our regulatory framework is failing to recognise the true value of our industry: the creation and monetisation of intellectual property.
Despite our current important screen tax incentives, the government is yet to address the ongoing abuse of market power exercised through a distorted market, now dominated by mostly global streaming platforms.
Our members are also under severe challenge from the only other commissioner of note for Australian children’s – the ABC – that is continuing to pursue broad licensing arrangements that leave producers with very little reward for their work, mimicking the unfair streamer deals.
We are failing to realise our export potential and missing out on valuable national income.
The result is that less and less Australian screen projects, particularly scripted, are reaching our screens.
Screen producing businesses – the SMEs that are the heartland of our industry – are being squeezed by both commissioners and production costs.
Script development is rarely funded, meaning producers have to work for considerable periods of time at their own expense, before any scarce funding is received.
Screen Australia can only fund 30% of projects presented to them and that many of the unfunded projects have great cultural significance, meaning important Australian stories are going untold.
Australia is way overdue to apply the local content rules that have underpinned our screen industry since the 1960s to new digital streaming platforms.
Achieving this would bring much needed stability and critical confidence to an important industry for Australia’s future economy.
It would boost our productivity by giving business the confidence to invest in new technology and skills training.
Link to media image HERE.
Watch a segment from the hearing HERE.