Disney and Universal Studios sue AI firm Midjourney in a landmark lawsuit that accuses the startup of blatantly stealing copyrighted characters. This conflict between Hollywood’s legacy studios and a digital disruptor indicates a broader rift in the entertainment industry’s hesitant embrace of artificial intelligence.
While studios eagerly explore AI for production advantages, they now face the very threat they feared: AI tools replicating their intellectual property with startling ease and zero permission.
Disney and Universal Studios Sue Midjourney Over Image Tool
Disney and Universal Studios argue that Midjourney’s AI image tool has become a digital “piracy machine,” churning out endless visuals of beloved characters like Darth Vader, Elsa, and the Minions. These images, created from simple text prompts, allegedly violate copyright laws by copying without transformation.
In their complaint filed in Los Angeles, the studios presented side-by-side comparisons of iconic figures Yoda, Iron Man, the Hulk, and Spider-Man rendered through Midjourney’s generator with little to no artistic reinterpretation.
Disney’s legal chief, Horacio Gutierrez, reinforced that while the company sees promise in AI’s creative potential, it draws a firm line against theft: “Piracy is piracy, and the fact that an AI company does it does not make it any less infringing.”
The lawsuit also reveals that Midjourney made $300 million last year and is preparing a video generation service, potentially escalating the threat to visual media giants even further.
Legal Experts Warn the Court Fight Will Be Complex
Experts caution that Disney and Universal’s case, while significant, won’t be easy to win. Law professor Shubha Ghosh notes that Midjourney’s outputs “just seem to be copies” rather than transformative works. Copyright law does allow for creative derivations but not for near-identical replicas in new contexts.
However, IP lawyer Randy McCarthy points out that Midjourney’s terms of service and fair use arguments could complicate the ruling, stressing, “No litigation is ever a slam dunk.”
Midjourney, a San Francisco-based independent research lab led by David Holz, has not issued a public statement. Despite its small team, the company is under intense scrutiny as the lawsuit raises pressing questions about AI’s role in modern media and whether unchecked generation tools risk dismantling decades of protected creative labour.