Hollywood giants sue AI firm over ‘piracy’

[White Wolf]

Disney and Universal are seeking an injunction and damages from Midjourney over the alleged use of copyrighted characters
Hollywood giants sue AI firm over ‘piracy’

Hollywood giants Disney and Universal have filed a joint lawsuit against artificial intelligence firm Midjourney, accusing it of large-scale copyright infringement.

The complaint, filed on Wednesday in the US District Court in Los Angeles, alleges that the AI image generator illegally used the studios’ copyrighted works to train its software and create unauthorized reproductions of iconic characters.

According to the 110-page complaint, Midjourney used “countless” copyrighted works from both studios without permission. The San Francisco-based company, founded in 2021, earned $300 million in subscription revenue last year, the lawsuit said.

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The studios described Midjourney as “the quintessential copyright free-rider and a bottomless pit of plagiarism.” The lawsuit claims the company’s AI models reproduced characters from franchises including Star Wars, Marvel, The Simpsons, Shrek, Minions, Kung Fu Panda, and How to Train Your Dragon.

The plaintiffs said Midjourney ignored multiple cease-and-desist letters and requests to implement safeguards. Instead, the company released updated versions of its tool capable of generating higher-quality images, and is preparing to launch an AI-driven video service that is allegedly being trained on copyrighted material without authorization.

“Midjourney could easily stop its theft and exploitation,” the studios wrote, but has instead continued its “bootlegging” business practices in defiance of US copyright law. The lawsuit stresses that only the studios have the right to commercialize their characters, whether through merchandise, video games, or subscription services.

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“We are bullish on the promise of AI technology and optimistic about how it can be used responsibly... but piracy is piracy,” Disney’s chief legal officer Horacio Gutierrez said. NBCUniversal’s general counsel, Kim Harris, said the company is suing to protect artists and its substantial investment in content.

The studios are seeking a preliminary injunction to stop Midjourney from copying their works and launching its video service without proper copyright protections. They also are also seeking damages, though no specific figure has been listed.

Midjourney has not responded to media requests for comment. Similar lawsuits have been filed against other AI startups that train models using data from the internet. The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement in 2023. Last year, Sony Music, Universal Music Group, and Warner Records filed lawsuits against AI music generators over unauthorized use of recordings. However, Disney and Universal are the first major Hollywood studios to sue an AI firm for copyright infringement.

Link:
https://www.rt.com/pop-culture/619000-h ... i-startup/

[White Wolf]

Two of Hollywood’s biggest players - Disney and NBCUniversal - have teamed up to launch a legal assault on the AI world, suing image generator Midjourney for what they call blatant copyright infringement.


via Disney/NBCU
According to a federal complaint filed in California and obtained by Axios, the entertainment giants accuse Midjourney of illegally using their copyrighted characters to train its artificial intelligence tools and of generating near-replica images of their intellectual property.

It’s the first time major Hollywood studios have taken a generative AI company to court - a legal showdown that could set a precedent for how studios protect their decades of iconic content in the age of artificial intelligence.

The complaint points to dozens of visual examples of alleged infringement, including AI-generated versions of Disney characters from "The Lion King" and "Aladdin," and NBCUniversal’s unmistakable Minions. The lawsuit accuses Midjourney of both direct and secondary copyright violations.

Midjourney, the studios claim, refused to play ball even after attempts to resolve the matter quietly.

Midjourney "continued to release new versions of its Image Service, which, according to Midjourney's founder and CEO, have even higher quality infringing images," the complaint states. The company, it adds, "is focused on its own bottom line and ignored Plaintiffs' demands."

Unlike other AI firms that allegedly agreed to rein in unauthorized use of studio-owned content, Midjourney did not take the issue seriously, the filing alleges.

The move signals that Hollywood is shifting from internal battles with striking actors and writers over AI usage, to an external legal front against AI developers. Disney and NBCU — owners of two of the most valuable IP catalogs in the world — are leading that charge.

Horacio Gutierrez, senior executive vice president and chief legal and compliance officer of The Walt Disney Company, didn’t mince words.

"Our world-class IP is built on decades of financial investment, creativity and innovation - investments only made possible by the incentives embodied in copyright law that give creators the exclusive right to profit from their works," Gutierrez said. "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. But piracy is piracy, and the fact that it's done by an AI company does not make it any less infringing."

Kim Harris, executive vice president and general counsel of NBCUniversal, echoed the sentiment: "We are bringing this action today to protect the hard work of all the artists whose work entertains and inspires us and the significant investment we make in our content. Theft is theft regardless of the technology used, and this action involves blatant infringement of our copyrights."

While the Motion Picture Association represents a broader alliance of studios — including Netflix, Amazon, Paramount, Sony, and Warner Bros. — this lawsuit underscores growing rifts in strategy, as individual companies go on offense.

Other industries have already taken similar action. In February, over a dozen major news outlets sued AI company Cohere, with support from the News Media Alliance, which represents thousands of publications.

The legal strategy emerging from Tinseltown appears clear: go after the platforms creating and distributing infringing content — not the individual users.

Midjourney has not publicly responded to the lawsuit as of press time.

Link:
https://www.zerohedge.com/ai/theft-thef ... ant-piracy