Los Angeles: Disney and Universal have filed a lawsuit against San Francisco-based AI company Midjourney, accusing it of rampant copyright infringement.
The lawsuit, lodged in a federal district court in Los Angeles, alleges that Midjourney’s image-generation tool has created ‘innumerable’ unauthorized versions of well-known characters such as Star Wars’ Darth Vader and Yoda, Marvel superheroes like Spider-Man and Iron Man, as well as Elsa from Frozen and the Minions from Despicable Me.
Disney’s chief legal officer Horacio Gutierrez acknowledged the creative potential of AI but marked a clear line on copyright boundaries, stating that, “Piracy is piracy, and the fact that it’s done by an AI company does not make it any less infringing.”
The complaint also underscores that Midjourney earned an estimated $300 million last year and is reportedly preparing to launch a video-generation service, a move that could intensify industry scrutiny.
Legal experts have weighed in on the lawsuit’s complexity. Shubha Ghosh, a law professor at Syracuse University, noted that many Midjourney outputs closely compare existing copyrighted characters and may lack the transformative qualities needed to qualify as fair use.
Shubha Ghosh remarked that, “A lot of the images that Midjourney produces just seem to be copies, in new locations or with a new background.” Randy McCarthy, head of the IP Law Group at Hall Estill, cautioned that the case is far from straightforward. Randy McCarthy stated that, “No litigation is ever a slam dunk. Several issues, such as Midjourney’s terms of service and a fair use analysis, will need to be sorted out by the court.”
Catalin Moraru@Pexels | Cropped by BH
Midjourney, which did not immediately respond to media requests, describes itself as a ‘small, self-funded’ independent research lab led by founder David Holz, formerly of Leap Motion. Its advisory board includes notable tech figures such as former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and Second Life creator Philip Rosedale.
The case highlights Hollywood’s complicated relationship with artificial intelligence. While AI is increasingly used in film production from de-ageing actors like Tom Hanks and Harrison Ford to modifying voices in Oscar-nominated films like Emilia Perez and The Brutalist, it has also prompted concern over the misuse of creative IP.
Just two years ago, actors and writers staged major strikes demanding AI safeguards. This lawsuit signals that studios are now prepared to test those boundaries in court.
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