Hollywood giants take legal actions against AI company due to ‘piracy’

(MENAFN) Hollywood heavyweights Disney and Universal have teamed up to sue the artificial intelligence company Midjourney for allegedly using their copyrighted content without consent.

The two studios lodged their complaint on Wednesday in a Los Angeles federal court. They claim Midjourney’s image generator was trained on a vast array of copyrighted works, allowing it to produce unauthorized reproductions of well-known cinematic characters.

The 110-page filing alleged the San Francisco-based firm, founded in 2021, earned $300 million in subscriptions last year by using these copyrighted materials without proper authorization.

The studios described Midjourney as a “bottomless well of plagiarism.” According to the complaint, the company's algorithm was trained on intellectual properties from popular franchises like Star Wars, Marvel, The Simpsons, Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, and How to Train Your Dragon.

Despite numerous cease-and-desist letters and requests to implement protective measures, the companies say Midjourney ignored their complaints and instead kept improving its service. The suit also highlights the company's plans to launch an AI video service that may be trained on copyrighted content.

“Midjourney could easily avoid this theft, but it chose not to.” The studios insisted in their filing. They stressed that only the original creators have the legal right to exploit their intellectual properties.

Disney’s chief legal officer, Horacio Gutierrez, insisted the companies are not against the technology itself, adding, “We are optimistic about the future of responsible AI, but piracy is piracy.” NBCUniversal’s Kim Harris explained the studios are trying to protect artists’ intellectual property and the substantial financial resources that fund their creations.

Disney and Universal are now asking the court to prohibit Midjourney from using their content and launching its video service. They are also pursuing damages, although the amount has not been specified.

The companies’ move comes amid a growing number of lawsuits against companies that use vast amounts of copyrighted material to train their models. The New York Times sued Microsoft and OpenAI last year, while major record companies sued several AI platforms for unauthorized use of their recordings. Nonetheless, this is the first time two large Hollywood studios have teamed up to challenge an AI company's practices in court.

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