NEW YORK (AP) — Disney and Universal sued popular artificial intelligence image generator Midi Joanie on Wednesday, showing that major Hollywood companies have taken legal action for the first time against manufacturers of generator AI technology that could promote the entertainment industry.
The copyright lawsuit in Los Angeles federal court claims that Midi Joanie will pirated two Hollywood studio libraries to generate and distribute “infinitely unauthorized copies” of famous characters such as Darth Vader from the Star Wars franchise and Minions from “Death Fai Blimmer.”
“Midjourney is a typical copyright freerider and a bottomless hole in plagiarism. Copyright infringement is copyright infringement and whether the infringing image or video is made with AI or another technology does not infringe infringement,” the company states the complaint.
The studio also said the San Francisco-based AI company has ignored requests to stop infringing copyrighted works and take technical measures to stop such image generation.
Midjourney did not respond to requests for comment, but CEO David Holz tackled the lawsuit in a weekly conference call with users on Wednesday after someone asked if they would risk the future of the small startup.
“The world isn't that cool so we can't really discuss the legal matters going on, but I think Midi Joanie has been around for a very long time,” Holtz said. “I think everyone wants us around.”
In a 2022 interview with The Associated Press, Holtz described his image production service as “like a search engine of sorts,” drawing a wide range of images from across the internet. He compared copyright concerns about technology to how such laws adapted to human creativity.
“Can a person look at someone else's photo, learn from it, and create similar pictures?” Holtz said. “Obviously, it's allowed by people, and if not, it will destroy the entire professional arts industry, perhaps the non-professional industry as well. As long as AIS is learning like people, it's the same thing and the images seem different.”
The lawsuit against Midjourney comes as the number other AI companies are seeking Invade Hollywood and Video Game Industryprovides AI tools that can help filmmakers and game developers generate new videos, composite voices, and editing help.
The Film Association, a film industry group, said in a statement Wednesday that “strong copyright protection is the backbone of our industry,” supporting “a balanced approach to AI that protects intellectual property and embraces responsible, human-centered innovation.”
It was the American Recording Industry Association, a music publishing group that is fighting its own legal battle with companies that make AI-generated music, that approved the lawsuit on Wednesday as a “critical position of human creativity and responsible innovation.”
Although major AI developers usually don't disclose data sources I insisted that Take a flock of publicly accessible online texts, image and Other media In Training AI systems It is protected by the doctrine of “fair use” of American copyright law. At the same time, many large tech companies are increasingly hoping to make licensing transactions to pay for the content that AI systems need.
Studio case will be participating in a Increase in litigation Submitted to developers of AI platforms in San Francisco and New York.
meanwhile, First major copyright trial In London, the Generating AI industry is underway and pits Getty Images against Stability AI, a manufacturer of image generation tools that compete with the Mid Journey.
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O'Brien reported from Providence, Rhode Island.
