Disney and Universal have sued artificial intelligence firm Midjourney for copyright infringement over its AI-powered image generator.
In a legal complaint filed in Los Angeles on Wednesday, the entertainment giants accused Midjourney of using works related to copyrighted characters to train its large language model (LLM) and distributing images of the copyrighted characters.
There are already several court cases against AI firms filed by authors and artists for alleged copyright infringement; however, this is the first time that major movie studios have waded into the AI legal saga.
Star Wars, Marvel, The Simpsons characters copied
Among the works that have allegedly been copied without permission are characters from Disney’s Star Wars, Marvel, The Lion King and The Simpsons, along with Universal’s Boss Baby and Shrek franchises.
The complaint states that users can subscribe to Midjourney’s image service and prompt it to create images of the copyrighted work, which can be downloaded and used.
Disney said that by using the copyrighted works and then distributing images that “blatantly incorporate and copy” famous characters without “investing a penny in their creation,” Midjourney is a “copyright free-rider and a bottomless pit of plagiarism.”
The suit also claims Midjourney copies and uses the copyrighted characters to market and promote its image service.
Attempts at resolution failed
Disney alleges it tried to resolve the situation with Midjourney before launching legal action by asking the firm to adopt technical measures to prevent the generation of copyrighted works.
“Instead, Midjourney has chosen to double down on its unlawful actions by releasing and promoting even newer versions of its Image Service and teasing its soon-to-be-released commercial AI video service,” Disney said in the suit.
Disney also alleges that Midjourney already has in place technological measures to prevent the distribution and public display of violent and nudity-related images, which Disney claims could easily be used to prevent the copying of its works.
“Midjourney controls what copyrighted content it selects, copies, and includes in its Image Service, and it has the means to implement protection measures to prevent the ongoing copying, public display, and distribution of Plaintiffs’ works,” Disney said.
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Disney and Universal have asked the court for a preliminary injunction to stop Midjourney from offering its image and video-generation service without measures to prevent users from creating images of copyrighted works.
Midjourney didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
AI firms facing mounting legal challenges
Midjourney isn’t the first AI firm to face legal action over alleged copyright infringement. Twelve US copyright cases against OpenAI and Microsoft were consolidated in New York back in March.
Meanwhile, three authors filed a class-action suit against Anthropic for copyright infringement last August, alleging the company used data sets containing pirated versions of their works to train its Claude family of LLMs.
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