Disney and Universal team up to sue AI photo generator Midjourney, claiming copyright infringement
Disney and Universal are suing AI photo generation company Midjourney, marking the first major legal showdown between Hollywood studios and an artificial intelligence company.
Midjourney, which enables users to create realistic-looking images from a text prompt in just seconds, is one of the most popular AI image generators. The movie companies allege that Midjourney trained its AI models on their intellectual property and that it generates images featuring their famous characters in violation of copyright law, according to a complaint filed Wednesday in California federal court.
In their complaint, the studios call Midjourney a 'virtual vending machine' and 'bottomless pit of plagiarism' that generates 'endless unauthorized copies of Disney's and Universal's copyrighted works.'
Most large, publicly available AI models are trained on large repositories of data, including images and video, from across the internet, often without asking permission. Artists, authors, musicians and Hollywood actors have also raised concerns about their work or likeness being used to train generative AI tools, which could then be used to replace them. Midjourney and other AI firms were sued in a separate copyright infringement case by a group of visual artists in 2023, which the companies have sought to dismiss but which is currently in discovery.
But Wednesday's lawsuit marks the first time major Hollywood studios have sued an AI company.
The lawsuit cites instances where Midjourney could easily be prompted to generate popular Universal and Disney characters, including Star Wars characters, Bart Simpson, Shrek, Ariel from 'The Little Mermaid,' Wall-E, the minions from the film 'Despicable Me' and more.
Midjourney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
But in response to the 2023 lawsuit, Midjourney argued that any single image created by AI 'comprises an infinitesimal fragment of a model's training, just as each visual (every face, sunset, painting) an artist has ever perceived and every text a writer has ever read comprises a tiny fraction of the content and imagery that inform their imagination.'
Disney's legal team says that its suit is over simple copyright infringement, however.
'We are bullish on the promise of AI technology and optimistic about how it can be used responsibly as a tool to further human creativity,' Horacio Gutierrez, Disney's senior executive vice president and chief legal and compliance officer said in a statement to CNN. 'But piracy is piracy, and the fact that it's done by an AI company does not make it any less infringing.'
The Motion Picture Association also weighed in on the lawsuit on Wednesday, with Chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin calling copyright protection 'the backbone of our industry.'
'A balanced approach to AI that both protects intellectual property and embraces responsible, human-centered innovation is critical for maintaining America's global leadership in creative industries,' Rivkin said in a statement.
Disney and Universal claim Midjourney has 21 million subscribers and earned $300 million in revenue last year.
Disney and Universal previously asked Midjourney to stop any alleged infringement or to implement technology to prevent users from generating images featuring their intellectual property, but the company has 'ignored' their requests, according to the complaint.
'Midjourney already has in place technological measures to prevent its distribution and public display of certain images and artwork such as violence or nudity,' the complaint states. 'And other AI image- and video-generating services have instituted copyright protection measures that recognize and protect the rights of content creators like Disney and Universal.'
Disney and Universal are seeking $150,000 per infringed work and an order preventing future copyright infringement by Midjourney, among other damages, their complaint states. An exhibit to the complaint lists more than 150 works that were allegedly infringed — meaning damages from the lawsuit, if Disney and Universal win, could top $20 million.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Danny Boyle admits he couldn't make 'Slumdog Millionaire' today because of cultural appropriation concerns
English director Danny Boyle said that he would not direct "Slumdog Millionaire" if it was made today due to "cultural appropriation" and would rather have a "young Indian filmmaker" make it instead. "We wouldn't be able to make that now. And that's how it should be. It's time to reflect on all that. We have to look at the cultural baggage we carry and the mark that we've left on the world... At the time it felt radical," Boyle told The Guardian. 'Snow White' Becomes Disney's Worst-performing Live-action Remake In Nearly 10 Years Set in India, the movie tells the story of Jamal, a young "slumdog" who's been selected to appear on the country's version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?", and hopes to also find his childhood lost love, Latika. Throughout his appearance, events from his tumultuous life are shown in flashback and help him answer the questions. Released in 2008, "Slumdog Millionaire" was a hit with audiences and critics, grossing nearly $380 million on a $15 million budget and winning eight Oscars, including Best Picture and Director for Boyle. Denzel Washington Shuts Down Reports He Bailed On Cannes Film Festival After Red Carpet Incident Read On The Fox News App However, despite its success, the movie was controversial for appearing to exploit Indian culture and portray stereotypes of India from a western perspective. Some Indian critics enjoyed the movie, but some Indian artists were underwhelmed, claiming it was "saturated with stereotyped images of India," TIME magazine reported. Boyle added that while the film was in production over 15 years ago, he was sensitive to the exploitative implications of making the movie as a foreigner then. "We made the decision that only a handful of us would go to Mumbai. We'd work with a big Indian crew and try to make a film within the culture. But you're still an outsider. It's still a flawed method. That kind of cultural appropriation might be sanctioned at certain times," Boyle told The Guardian. He went on to say, "But at other times it cannot be. I mean, I'm proud of the film, but you wouldn't even contemplate doing something like that today. It wouldn't even get financed. Even if I was involved, I'd be looking for a young Indian filmmaker to shoot it." Boyle's other notable movies include "Trainspotting," "Steve Jobs," "127 Hours" and the "28 Days Later" horror series. The latest, "28 Years Later", was released on Friday. Boyle nor his representatives immediately responded to Fox News Digital's request for comment. Click Here To Read More On Fox NewsOriginal article source: Danny Boyle admits he couldn't make 'Slumdog Millionaire' today because of cultural appropriation concerns
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Midjourney, the AI Company Being Sued by Disney and NBCU, Launches First Video-Generation Tool (WATCH)
Midjourney has released version 1 of its AI video model, coming a week after the start-up was targeted in a copyright-infringement lawsuit by Disney and NBCUniversal. At launch, Midjourney will charge about eight times more for a generative-AI video job than an image job; each job will produce four 5-second videos, the company said in a blog post. (According to one estimate, Midjourney's pricing works out to 3-5 cents per image.) In the current model, once users have a video they like, they can extend it roughly 4 seconds at a time, four times total. The company claims the pricing is 'over 25 times cheaper' compared with what has been available in the market before. Midjourney shared a sizzle reel of AI-generated video (watch below). More from Variety Why Midjourney Made the Perfect Target for Hollywood's First AI Lawsuit Disney, Universal File First Major Studio Lawsuit Against AI Company, Sue Midjourney for Copyright Infringement: 'This Is Theft' 'Our goal is to give you something fun, easy, beautiful, and affordable so that everyone can explore. We think we've struck a solid balance,' says the June 18 blog post, which is signed 'David' (presumably Midjourney founder and CEO David Holz). The long-term vision, according to Midjourney, is 'an AI system that generates imagery in real-time. You can command it to move around in 3D space, the environments and characters also move, and you can interact with everything.' SEE ALSO: In the blog post, David writes, 'We ask that you please use these technologies responsibly. Properly utilized it's not just fun, it can also be really useful, or even profound — to make old and new worlds suddenly alive.' Midjourney has not issued a public statement about the Disney-NBCU lawsuit or responded to requests for comment. According to the studios, Midjourney is 'the quintessential copyright free-rider and a bottomless pit of plagiarism' that has profited from their intellectual property. 'Piracy is piracy, and whether an infringing image or video is made with AI or another technology does not make it any less infringing,' the Disney-NBCU lawsuit said, citing numerous examples of Midjourney's system producing allegedly infringing images of Marvel superheroes, the yellow Minions from 'Despicable Me,' and characters from Star Wars, 'The Simpsons,' 'Toy Story,' 'Shrek' and more. Midjourney's blog post said that from a technical standpoint, the new video model 'is a stepping stone, but for now, we had to figure out what to actually concretely give to you.' The company is calling the current video workflow 'Image-to-Video,' meaning that you still make images in Midjourney but now you can press an 'Animate' button to turn them into video clips. According to Midjourney, there's an 'automatic' animation setting as well as a 'manual' animation setting that lets you 'describe to the system how you want things to move and the scene to develop.' The company also is allowing users to animate images 'uploaded from outside of Midjourney.' To do this, users can drag an image to the prompt bar and mark it as a 'start frame,' then type a motion prompt to describe how they want it to be animated. Watch Midjourney's AI video sizzle reel: Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts? 25 Hollywood Legends Who Deserve an Honorary Oscar
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Jon Bernthal's Punisher Joins Cast of ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day' With Tom Holland
Jon Bernthal is joining Tom Holland in 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day.' Bernthal – who has played The Punisher on a number of TV shows – is reprising his role for the first time on the big screen TheWrap has learned. The gun toting vigilante was most recently seen in Season 1 of 'Daredevil: Born Again.' Bernthal first appeared as The Punisher back in the second season of 'Daredevil' when it was still a Netflix series. He later reprised it for a few episodes in the aforementioned first season of 'Daredevil: Born Again.' He's tapped not only to appear in the second season of that series but also for a Punisher standalone on Disney+ – akin to the 'Werewolf By Night' and 'Guardians of the Galaxy' Christmas special. Bernthal is also co-writing the standalone special. Along with Holland and Bernthal, Zendaya and Jacob Batalon are both tapped to return for the new Spidey film as MJ and Ned respectively. The only other major casting announced is that 'Stranger Things' alum Sadie Sink has joined the film in an unspecified role. Rumors have swirled about her portraying a number of iconic characters from X-Men mainstay Jean Grey to Gwen Stacy – and possibly even Spider-Gwen. 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' – the fourth film in Holland's tenure as the wall crawler – is being directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and is slated for release on July 31, 2026. Cretton also handled directing duties for Marvel's 'Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings' and a few episodes of the upcoming Disney+ series 'Wonder Man.' Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers wrote the script. The casting was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter. The post Jon Bernthal's Punisher Joins Cast of 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' With Tom Holland appeared first on TheWrap.
