Disney and Universal have jointly sued the AI Startup Mid Journey. They claim it generates illicit images of copyrighted characters from major franchises. The studio claims that Midjourney won $300 million in 2023 by distributing infringing content.
The legal battle over artificial intelligence (AI) and copyright has reached new highs. Entertainment Giants Disney and Universal have filed a joint lawsuit against AI startup Midjourney, where popular image generators are illegally replicated from the most iconic copyrighted characters to make money.
The lawsuit was filed in Federal Court for Los Angeles. It denies Midjourney for generating and distributing countless fraudulent images based on Disney and Universal’s intellectual property. These include portrayals of Marvel superheroes Darth Vader, Yoda and Elsa, like the characters of Frozen, Iron Man and the Hulk, Universal minions, and Kung Fu Panda and Shrek.
The studio claims that Midjourney’s AI platform is building these images using user prompts without any protection measures to prevent breach. Despite the demands to stop practicing, Midjourney is said to have released an update that generates high-quality copies.
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Studio seeks an injunction and cites $300 million in revenue
According to the lawsuit, Midjourney won $300 million in 2023 through a paid subscription to AI Image Generation Services. The studio is currently seeking a provisional injunction to force the platform to halt the generation and distribution of such content and to enforce technical protection against copyright violations.
The lawsuit opens new fronts with “AI Copyright Wars”
The lawsuit is one of the most well-known challenges for AI companies over image-based intellectual property. Previous cases have focused primarily on text and music.
In June 2024, Major Record Label sued AI music platforms Suno and Udio. Meanwhile, the New York Times continues to pursue Openai and Microsoft due to content misuse in training large-scale language models.
AI companies, including Midjourney, often source training data from large web scrapes. In a 2022 interview, CEO David Holz admitted that the platform’s dataset came from “a big scuffing on the internet.”
When asked if he was asking for permission from the artist, Holtz said, “There’s really no way to get 100 million images and find out where they came from.”
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The dual role of AI in Hollywood
The lawsuit highlights the complex relationship with the entertainment industry with AI. Studios uses AI to evict actors and manipulates voice performances in famous films such as Emilia Perez and Brutalist, but is still wary of its ability to copy and commercialize existing IPs.
Disney’s Chief Legal Officer Horacio Gutierrez highlighted the company’s stance. “Copyright infringement is copyright infringement and the fact that AI companies do it doesn’t infringe it.”
NBCuniversal reflected sentiment, saying the lawsuit was intended to protect the significant investment in artists’ work and studio content.
Schva Ghosh, a law professor at Syracuse University, said that adding creative value can sometimes protect derivative work, but many midijoney outputs appear to reflect existing characters intimately.
Midjourney, founded in 2021 and called a small independent laboratory, has yet to comment on the lawsuit. The results could have broad implications for how images and potential videos generated by AI are regulated under copyright laws. It may help define the boundaries of artistic ownership in an AI-driven era.
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