Disney & Universal Launch AI Copyright Infringement Lawsuit
Disney and Universal have launched legal action against US-based Gen AI start-up Midjourney, accusing its image generation technology of serving as a conduit for copyright infringement.
Midjourney's technology has reportedly been known to create myriad unauthorised depictions of some of the studios' signature characters, including Star Wars' Darth Vader, Frozen's Elsa and the Minions from the Despicable Me series and its various spin-offs.
The lawsuit was lodged in a Los Angeles federal district court, marking another key development in the entertainment industry's ongoing engagement with artificial intelligence technology.
"For years, the conversation around AI in entertainment has focused on actors and writers fighting to protect their likeness and work,” says Elliot Foster, Founder of Growthlistic.
“Now, the studios themselves are drawing a line in the sand, teaming up to defend their iconic characters and IP from being used to train AI models and generate lookalike images without permission.”
The finer details of the lawsuit
The legal proceedings detail numerous instances where Midjourney's AI-generated representations feature iconic Disney imagery, including characters like Star Wars' Yoda and Marvel's Spiderman, the Incredible Hulk and Iron Man.
This broad span of intellectual property underscores the enormity of the claimed infringements.
Midjourney's model enables image creation through text prompts, presenting pivotal questions on accountability when AI systems replicate protected content.
"The lawsuit claims that privately held Midjourney used and distributed AI-generated characters from Disney and Universal properties such as Star Wars and The Simpsons without permission and disregarded requests to stop," explains Joel Baglole, reporting for TipRanks.
The view from the entertainment industry
In a recently published statement, Disney's Chief Legal Officer, Horacio Gutierrez, expressed his views on AI's role in Hollywood, saying that he was "optimistic" about its impacts on creativity, despite concerns about its infringement of IP.
"But piracy is piracy," he said, "and the fact that it's done by an AI company does not make it any less infringing."
While operating with this model, Midjourney has achieved substantial financial success, reportedly generating US$300m in revenue last year and planning to launch a forthcoming video service.
This legal battle emerges at a critical juncture at the intersection of entertainment and AI, highlighting fundamental issues in the field.
"If I was an artist, a) I would like to be able to opt out of people generating art in my style and b) if they do generate art in my style I’d like to have some kind of economic model associated with that," said Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, in a recent interview with technology pundit Lex Fridman.
The legal repercussions
The rapid evolution of AI technologies, particularly Gen AI, has surfaced numerous discussions on copyright law in the past few months.
This highlights the need for equitable training of AI models.
US President Donald Trump once reacted to this situation by firing the US Congress’ Register of Copyrights, Shira Perlmutter, following her report on unfair copyrighted property usage in AI training.
Legal experts acknowledge that copyright law can accommodate creativity that builds on existing works if the new version incorporates unique elements.
However, this does not appear applicable to most outputs from Midjourney, which often resemble copied copyrights with altered settings.
"A lot of the images that Midjourney produces just seem to be copies of copyright characters that might be in new locations or with a new background," says Shubha Gosh, Professor of Law at Syracuse University.
"It doesn't seem like they're being transformed in a creative or imaginative way."
Elsewhere, Randy McCarthy, Patent Attorney at Hall Estill, advises caution when speculating on the lawsuit's outcome.
"No litigation is ever a slam dunk," he says, "and that is true for Disney and Universal in this case."
"There are several issues such as terms of service provisions by Midjourney, and basic fair use analysis, that will need to be sorted out by the court before we can determine the likely outcome."
Explore the latest edition of AI Magazine and be part of the conversation at our global conference series, Tech & AI LIVE.
Discover all our upcoming events and secure your tickets today.
Also sign up to our free weekly newsletter for the latest insights and stories straight into your inbox.
AI Magazine is a BizClik brand
