Disney and Universal Pictures have filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the AI company Midjourney, targeting its AI-driven image generator.
In a legal complaint submitted on Wednesday in Los Angeles, the two entertainment giants accuse Midjourney of using works related to copyrighted characters to train its large language model (LLM) and distributing images of these copyrighted characters.
There have been several lawsuits against AI companies initiated by authors and artists, accusing them of copyright infringement; however, this is the first time a major film studio has been involved in an AI legal dispute.
The allegedly unauthorized works include characters from Disney's "Star Wars," "Marvel," "The Lion King," and "The Simpsons," as well as Universal Pictures' "Boss Baby" and "Shrek" series.
The complaint states that users can subscribe to Midjourney's image service and prompt it to generate images of copyrighted works, which can be downloaded and used.
Disney claims that by using copyrighted works and then distributing images that "blatantly mimic and plagiarize" famous characters, without investing a penny in creation, Midjourney is a "copyright freeloader" and a "bottomless pit of plagiarism."
The lawsuit also alleges that Midjourney copies and uses copyrighted characters to market and promote its image services.
Disney stated that before taking legal action, it attempted to resolve the issue with Midjourney, requesting the company to implement technical measures to prevent the generation of copyrighted works.
Disney noted in the lawsuit: "Instead, Midjourney chose to double down on its illegal activities, releasing and promoting updated versions of its image service and previewing an upcoming commercial AI video service."
Disney also accused Midjourney of having the technical measures in place to prevent the distribution and public display of violent and nude-related images, which Disney believes could easily be used to prevent the plagiarism of its works.
Disney stated: "Midjourney controls the copyrighted content it chooses, copies, and includes in its image service, and has the ability to implement protective measures to prevent the ongoing copying, public display, and distribution of the plaintiff's works."
Disney and Universal Pictures have requested the court to issue a preliminary injunction to stop Midjourney from providing its image and video generation services without taking measures to prevent users from creating images of copyrighted works.
Midjourney did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Midjourney is not the first AI company facing legal action for alleged copyright infringement. As early as March, 12 copyright cases against OpenAI and Microsoft were consolidated in New York.
Meanwhile, last August, three authors filed a class-action lawsuit against Anthropic, accusing the company of using datasets containing pirated versions of their works to train its Claude series of large language models (LLMs).
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Original article: “Disney and Universal Sue Midjourney — ‘Bottomless Pit of Plagiarism’”
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