new york
CNN
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Disney and Universal are suing AI photography generation company Midjourney, marking the first major legal showdown between Hollywood Studios and an artificial intelligence company.
Midjourney is one of the most popular AI image generators as it allows users to create realistic images from text prompts in just a few seconds. The film company claims that Midi Johnny trains AI models on intellectual property and generates images featuring well-known characters in violation of copyright law, according to a complaint filed Wednesday in California federal court.
In their complaints, the studio calls the Mid Journey a “virtual vending machine” and a “bottomless hole in plagiarism,” producing “endless fraudulent copies of Disney and Universal copyrighted works.”
Most large, publicly available AI models are often trained on large data repositories that contain images and videos from across the Internet without asking for permission. Artists, writers, musicians and Hollywood actors also raised concerns about the work and similarities used to train generative AI tools. Midjourney and other AI companies were sued in 2023 by a group of visual artists in another copyright infringement case. It is currently being discovered.
However, Wednesday's lawsuit marks the first time a major Hollywood studio has sued an AI company.
The lawsuit cites cases that encourage Mid Journey to easily generate popular Universal and Disney characters, including Star Wars characters, Bert Simpson, Shrek, Ariel from The Little Mermaid, and Minions from Despaible Me.
Midjourney did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
However, in response to the 2023 lawsuit, Midjourney argues that a single image created by AI constitutes an infinite fragment of model training so that all texts read by the writer can convey imagination to date, as “all faces, sunsets, paintings) have ever been recognized.
But Disney's legal team says the lawsuit is nothing more than a simple copyright infringement.
“We are bullish on the promises of AI technology and are optimistic about how it can be used responsibly as a tool to increase human creativity,” said Horacio Gutierrez, Disney's Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Law and Compliance Officer, in a statement to CNN. “However, the fact that copyright infringement is copyright infringement and is carried out by AI companies does not infringe it.”
The Film Association also focuses on Wednesday's lawsuit, with chairman and CEO Charles Livkin calling copyright protection “the backbone of our industry.”
“A balanced approach to AI that protects intellectual property and embraces responsible, human-centered innovation is critical to maintaining America's global leadership in the creative industry,” Libkin said in a statement.
Disney and Universal claims Midjourney has 21 million subscribers, earning $300 million in revenue last year.
Disney and Universal previously asked Midi Johnny to implement the technology so that they would stop suspected infringement or not generate images featuring intellectual property, but the company has “ignored” the request, according to the lawsuit.
“Midjourney has already implemented technical measures to prevent the distribution and publication of certain images and artwork, such as violence and nudity,” the complaint states. “Other AI image and video generation services have also implemented copyright protection measures that recognize and protect the rights of content creators such as Disney and Universal.”
Disney and Universal are seeking $150,000 for each work that was infringed, and among other damages, they are seeking orders that would prevent future copyright infringement by the Mid Journey. The exhibit in the complaint lists more than 150 works allegedly infringed. This means Disney and Universal's victory could exceed $20 million.
