Disney and Universal join forces to file a lawsuit against AI photo creator Midjourney, alleging violation of copyright laws due to unauthorized usage of their intellectual property.
Hollywood Takes On AI: Disney and Universal Sue Midjourney in landmark Legal Battle
It's the clash of the titans as Disney and Universal go head-to-head with AI photo generation company, Midjourney. This legal showdown is the first major feud between the Hollywood entertainment industry and an artificial intelligence company.
Midjourney, a popular AI image generator, is under fire for using Hollywood's intellectual property without permission. In a complaint filed in California federal court, the movie giants accuse Midjourney of creating images featuring their famous characters, such as Star Wars characters, Bart Simpson, Shrek, Ariel from "The Little Mermaid," Wall-E, and the minions from "Despicable Me," among others. These actions, they claim, violate copyright law.
The studios have branded Midjourney as a "virtual vending machine" and a "bottomless pit of plagiarism" that churns out "endless unauthorized copies" of their copyrighted works. It's worth noting that most large AI models are trained on vast repositories of data, including images and videos, from across the internet, often without seeking permission. This practice has raised concerns among artists, authors, musicians, and Hollywood actors who worry about their work or likeness being used to train generative AI tools.
In response to a similar lawsuit in 2023, Midjourney argued that every AI-generated image is a mere "infinitesimal fragment" of the model's training data. Disney's legal team, however, contends that this lawsuit is simply about copyright infringement. Horacio Gutierrez, Disney's senior executive vice president and chief legal and compliance officer, stated, "Piracy is piracy, and the fact that it's done by an AI company does not make it any less infringing."
Disney and Universal allege that Midjourney has 21 million subscribers and generated $300 million in revenue last year. According to the complaint, despite requests to stop alleged infringements or to implement technology to prevent users from generating images featuring their intellectual property, Midjourney has "ignored" these requests.
Midjourney currently boasts the technology to prevent the distribution and public display of certain images and artwork, such as explicit content. The lawsuit accuses the company of failing to apply similar measures to protect copyrighted material. Other AI image- and video-generating services have already instituted copyright protection measures acknowledging and respecting the rights of content creators like Disney and Universal.
Disney and Universal are seeking up to $150,000 per infringed work, an order preventing Midjourney from future copyright infringement, and various other damages. The lawsuit lists over 150 works that were allegedly infringed, potentially resulting in damages that could exceed $20 million if Disney and Universal win their case.
The lawsuit marks a crucial turning point in the ongoing debate over generative AI and copyright law. If successful, it could prompt AI companies to modify their data-gathering practices, limiting the ability of users to generate content based on copyrighted material. The outcome of this case could establish a precedent for how AI-generated content is regulated in relation to copyrighted works.
This legal battle between Hollywood and AI sets the stage for future confrontations in the intersection of artificial intelligence and intellectual property rights. Experts argue that only clear legal rulings will deter practices considered exploitative by creators and rights holders. Stay tuned for more updates!
Midjourney is accused by Disney and Universal of creating images featuring their famous characters and violating copyright law, despite the company's AI technology being capable of preventing the distribution and public display of certain images and artwork. The studios allege that Midjourney's continual creation of images based on their intellectual property, even after requests to stop, could establish a potentially damaging precedent for the regulation of AI-generated content in relation to copyrighted works.
