The legal action follows similar moves from other creative industries, with twelve major news companies jointly suing AI companies in February for copyright concerns. In 2023, a group of visual artists sued Midjourney for similar reasons.
Studios claims Midjourney knows what he is doing
In addition to allowing users to create these images, the studio believes that Midjourney actively promotes copyright infringement by displaying user-generated content with copyright characters in its “Explore” section. The complaint pointed out that this planning “displays[s] Midjourney knows that its platform regularly reproduces the plaintiff’s copyrighted works. ”
The studio also claimed that Midjourney had available technical protections that could prevent the output of copyrighted materials, but “had definitely chosen not to use copyright protection measures to limit infringement.” They quoted Midjourney CEO David Holz acknowledged that the company “deleted all data that can be, all text, all images, all images for training purposes”.
According to Axios, Disney and NBCuniversal are trying to resolve the issue with Midjourney before filing the lawsuit. While the studio said other AI platforms agreed to take steps to stop IP theft, Midjourney “continues to release new versions of its image service,” Holz said to be “even higher quality invading images.”
“We have taken this action today to protect the hard work of all artists that have entertained and inspired our great investment in content,” said Kim Harris, executive vice president and general counsel at NBCUniversal, in a statement.
The lawsuit marks a new front in Hollywood’s clash of AI. Axios highlights this shift: While actors and writers have been working to protect their names, images and similarities, the studio is now considering intellectual property issues. Other major studios including Amazon, Netflix, Paramount Pictures, Sony and Warner Bros. have not joined the lawsuit, although they have shared membership with the Disney and Universal Pictures Association.
