Disney and Universal sue Midjourney for copyright infringement

Disney and Universal Studios have filed a lawsuit against Midjourney, an artificial intelligence-based image-generation company, over its creation of copyrighted images of characters such as Darth Vader and Shrek, The Hollywood Reporter reports.

The lawsuit marks the first major legal initiative by Hollywood studios over artificial intelligence. Disney, Marvel, Lucasfilm, 20th Century, Universal City Studios Productions and DreamWorks Animation accuse Midjourney of using copyrighted works without permission, calling the platform a “bottomless pit of plagiarism.” The studios say the company downloaded content from the internet without the owners’ permission, using bots and other automated tools.

The lawsuit lists dozens of examples of how Midjourney allows users to create personalized images of iconic characters. The studios say the platform could have implemented copyright protection mechanisms but deliberately failed to do so. Disney and Universal also said they tried to resolve the matter out of court, but Midjourney continued to operate without change.

It is reported that other major studios, including Amazon, Netflix, Paramount Pictures, Sony, and Warner Bros., may also soon join the lawsuit against Midjourney.