Two entertainment giants Walt Disney Co. and NBC Universal filed a joint copyright infringement lawsuit against Midjourney, a widely used AI image generator, on Wednesday.
The lawsuit marks the first time Hollywood majors have entered the escalating conflict between traditional media and generative AI companies, who use open source images on the internet to train their AI models.
110-page complaint filed a lawsuit in federal court in Los Angeles alleging that the San Francisco-based company Midjourney Inc. misappropriates copyright visuals from popular fictional characters from Star Wars movies and Marvel’s main franchise Comic Books are designed to develop their AI tools.
The complaint accused Midjourney of obtaining illegally eliminated images under Disney and General Brands and described the company’s approach as “pirated.” The studio further claimed that this practice helped Midjourney make a profit in a short period of time.
Midjourney reported $300 million in revenue last year, six times the revenue in 2022 in the year the company’s CEO David Holz founded. Midjourney claims it has accumulated about 21 million users in three years.
In New York TimesDisney’s general counsel said AI companies are not subject to legal standards for protecting intellectual property rights. The legal director at NBC Universal added that the studios have an obligation to protect the creative labor they invest in.
Midjourney claims it is independently funded and has no support from outside investors. The company said it generates revenue from its subscription plan at a monthly fee of $120.
The lawsuit is in line with a larger industry crackdown. Major media brands are targeting lawsuits in litigation, including image generation platforms such as The The The Drave of Prosing of Open AI and SteStieAi. New York Times and Getty Images.
The two studios are seeking damages and restrictions on Midjourney’s generation of tools and court orders. Midjourney has not yet publicly responded to the lawsuit’s claim.
