Disney and Universal Studios have filed suit against Midjourney for copyright infringement
By ForGeeks Disney and NBCUniversal have filed a joint lawsuit against Midjourney, accusing it of copyright infringement of various intellectual properties. The complaint, filed in federal district court in Los Angeles, contains images created by Midjourney depicting a variety of protected characters from both companies’ franchises, including “Star Wars,” “Shrek,” “The Simpsons,” “Ugly I” and others. The 110-page lawsuit alleges that the AI company “misappropriated countless” copyrighted materials while training its models, who in turn create and distribute “innumerable” copies of those characters through AI-generated images.
The lawsuit alleges that the AI company “misappropriated countless” copyrighted materials while training its models, who in turn create and distribute “innumerable” copies of those characters through AI-generated images.
The lawsuit characterizes Midjourney as “a classic copyright freeloader and bottomless pit of plagiarism.” It’s the first time major Hollywood studios have filed a similar lawsuit amid existing litigation involving OpenAI, Meta* and Perplexity AI.
The lawsuit is the first time major Hollywood studios have filed a similar lawsuit amid existing litigation involving OpenAI, Meta* and Perplexity AI.
The intersection of art and artificial intelligence is increasingly being debated in the courts, but the lawsuit from two of the largest media content owners carries particular weight. “We believe in the potential of artificial intelligence technology and hope that it will be used responsibly as a tool to enhance human creativity,” Horacio Gutierrez, Disney’s general counsel, said in an email to The New York Times. “But piracy remains piracy, even if it is carried out by an AI company.”
In separate comments to The New York Times, NBCUniversal general counsel Kim Harris added: “We are filing this lawsuit to protect the labor of all the artists whose work inspires and entertains us, as well as the investment we make in our content.”
The lawsuit is being filed to protect the work of all the artists whose work inspires and entertains us, as well as the investment we make in our content.
* Owned by Meta, it is recognized as an extremist organization in Russia and its activities are banned.
The Disney and Universal Studios sue Midjourney for copyright infringement was first published on ITZine.ru.
