Disney and Universal are suing AI photo generation company Midjourney, marking the first major legal showdown between Hollywood studios and an artificial intelligence company.
Midjourney, which enables users to create realistic-looking images from a text prompt in just seconds, is one of the most popular AI image generators. The movie companies allege that Midjourney trained its AI models on their intellectual property and that it generates images featuring their famous characters in violation of copyright law, according to a complaint filed Wednesday in California federal court.
In their complaint, the studios call Midjourney a “virtual vending machine” and “bottomless pit of plagiarism” that generates “endless unauthorized copies of Disney’s and Universal’s copyrighted works.”
Most large, publicly available AI models are trained on large repositories of data, including images and video, from across the internet, often without asking permission. Artists, authors, musicians and Hollywood actors have also raised concerns about their work or likeness being used to train generative AI tools, which could then be used to replace them. Midjourney and other AI firms were sued in a separate copyright infringement case by a group of visual artists in 2023, which the companies have sought to dismiss but which is currently in discovery.
But Wednesday’s lawsuit marks the first time major Hollywood studios have sued an AI company.
The lawsuit cites instances where Midjourney could easily be prompted to generate popular Universal and Disney characters, including Star Wars characters, Bart Simpson, Shrek, Ariel from “The Little Mermaid,” Wall-E, the minions from the film “Despicable Me” and more.
Midjourney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
But in response to the 2023 lawsuit, Midjourney argued that any single image created by AI “comprises an infinitesimal fragment of a model’s training, just as each visual (every face, sunset, painting) an artist has ever perceived and every text a writer has ever read comprises a tiny fraction of the content and imagery that inform their imagination.”
Disney’s legal team says that its suit is over simple copyright infringement, however.
“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,” Horacio Gutierrez, Disney’s senior executive vice president and chief legal and compliance officer said in a statement to CNN. “But piracy is piracy, and the fact that it’s done by an AI company does not make it any less infringing.”
The Motion Picture Association also weighed in on the lawsuit on Wednesday, with Chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin calling copyright protection “the backbone of our industry.”
“A balanced approach to AI that both protects intellectual property and embraces responsible, human-centered innovation is critical for maintaining America’s global leadership in creative industries,” Rivkin said in a statement.
Disney and Universal claim Midjourney has 21 million subscribers and earned $300 million in revenue last year.
Disney and Universal previously asked Midjourney to stop any alleged infringement or to implement technology to prevent users from generating images featuring their intellectual property, but the company has “ignored” their requests, according to the complaint.
“Midjourney already has in place technological measures to prevent its distribution and public display of certain images and artwork such as violence or nudity,” the complaint states. “And other AI image- and video-generating services have instituted copyright protection measures that recognize and protect the rights of content creators like Disney and Universal.”
Disney and Universal are seeking $150,000 per infringed work and an order preventing future copyright infringement by Midjourney, among other damages, their complaint states. An exhibit to the complaint lists more than 150 works that were allegedly infringed — meaning damages from the lawsuit, if Disney and Universal win, could top $20 million.
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