First AI Lawsuit: Disney & Universal Sue Midjourney Over Copyright Infringement

Dan Lalonde
Jun 12
1 min read

AI Walt Disney Universal Midjourney — Ai

What do you think of AI being used in the entertainment industry?

In a bold move signaling Hollywood’s growing pushback against generative AI, Disney and Universal have jointly filed a lawsuit against Midjourney, accusing the AI firm of rampant copyright infringement. Filed in Los Angeles federal court, the suit represents Disney Enterprises, Marvel, Lucasfilm, Universal, and DreamWorks, and claims that Midjourney’s AI art tools enable users to produce unauthorized digital replicas of iconic characters like Darth Vader, Yoda, and Shrek.

The studios argue that Midjourney trained its AI models using copyrighted content scraped from the internet without consent, then allowed users to generate high-quality, downloadable images mimicking studio-owned IP. Exhibits submitted include side-by-side comparisons of AI-generated content with original characters, illustrating what Disney calls “a bottomless pit of plagiarism.”

Midjourney’s “Explore” feature, which showcases user-generated art, is cited as evidence of the company profiting from and encouraging infringement. Despite having the means to restrict outputs, the complaint alleges that Midjourney has willfully chosen not to deploy copyright filters.

Disney’s general counsel, Horacio Gutierrez, emphasized the stakes: “Our IP represents decades of creative investment. AI must enhance, not exploit, human creativity.”

This case marks a pivotal clash between content creators and AI developers over how far tech companies can go in utilizing protected works. Comment below with your thoughts.