Disney and Universal have joined forces to sue the artificial intelligence image-generating company Midjourney. The two companies accuse Midjourney of copyright infringement. This lawsuit marks the first of its kind to come out of Hollywood and could have lasting impacts on the future of AI.
The lawsuit alleges that Midjourney used and distributed AI-generated characters that come from their studios from franchises like Star Wars, The Simpsons, and others. It also says that Midjourney has ignored requests to stop. Other examples used by the two studios include characters from Cars, Toy Story, Shrek, The Avengers, and even the minions from Despicable Me. “Midjourney is the quintessential copyright free-rider and a bottomless pit of plagiarism,” the companies said in the lawsuit.
The following images were submitted with the lawsuit against Midjourney. Each of them was generated by AI:
The companies argue that Midjourney’s actions could “upend the bedrock incentives of U.S. copyright law.” Because of this, Disney and Universal are requesting a jury trial.
“Midjourney is the quintessential copyright free-rider and a bottomless pit of plagiarism,” the two studios said. They also called actions “calculated and willful.”
“Midjourney, which has attracted millions of subscribers and made $300 million last year alone, is focused on its own bottom line and ignored Plaintiffs’ demands,” the suit says.
The companies have both sent letters to Midjourney asking for it to stop using their characters and infringing on copyright protections. However, Midjourney has continued to release AI-generated characters with likenesses of Disney and Universal-owned characters with its image generator.
“Creativity is the cornerstone of our business,” said Kimberley Harris, executive vice president and general counsel of NBCUniversal, in a statement. “We are bringing this action today to protect the hard work of all the artists whose work entertains and inspires us and the significant investment we make in our content.”
According to the lawsuit, Midjourney told Disney that it was reviewing the letter. However, it never responded to the letter. Universal never heard back from Midjourney regarding its letter.
“We are bullish on the promise of AI technology and optimistic about how it can be used responsibly as a tool to further human creativity,” said Horacio Gutierrez, senior executive vice president and chief legal and compliance officer of The Walt Disney Company, in a statement. “But piracy is piracy, and the fact that it’s done by an AI company does not make it any less infringing.”
Midjourney was founded in 2021. It offers a text-to-image generator for a price. Users will describe what they want to see, and the generator will create the image. Midjourney subscriptions range from $10 to $120 per month. The company had approximately $300 in revenue in 2024. This is up from $50 million in 2022.
The implications of this lawsuit could be far-reaching. As AI continues to grow and develop, there have been many concerns about the protection of intellectual property. This is the first major lawsuit to be brought by a major Hollywood studio (or two in this case) against an AI company. The determination of this case could change both Hollywood and how AI moves forward.
