Midjourney is escalating its legal battle against Disney, Universal, and Warner Bros., filing a motion to force the Hollywood giants to disclose their own internal artificial intelligence practices. The startup, currently embroiled in copyright infringement lawsuits, argues that transparency regarding how these studios utilize AI is essential for its defense.
The Core of the Copyright Dispute
The conflict ignited last year when Disney and Universal sued Midjourney, alleging that the platform’s models illegally generate images of iconic characters like Darth Vader and Bart Simpson. Warner Bros. subsequently joined the legal action. Midjourney maintains its stance that training AI models on copyrighted imagery is protected under fair use doctrines.
Challenging Discovery Limitations
The current legal friction centers on the discovery process. While a judge previously mandated that studios must disclose information regarding generative AI usage for “consumer-facing” content, Midjourney is pushing to remove this restriction.
In its latest filing, the company argues that the current ruling allows studios to “cherry-pick” evidence. Midjourney claims this practice obscures documents that could prove the studios are engaging in the very same behavior for which they are suing others.
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Hypocrisy Allegations and Internal AI Use
Midjourney contends that if studios are leveraging AI internally for storyboarding or content ideation, such evidence would establish an industry standard. The startup suggests this would prove that downloading and training AI on unlicensed content is a common practice, even among the plaintiffs themselves.
Furthermore, the startup is demanding that studios disclose all prompts submitted to Midjourney and their corresponding outputs, rather than limiting the data to only those images alleged to be infringing.
Studios Respond to “Fishing Expedition” Claims
David Singer, the lead attorney representing the studios, has previously characterized Midjourney’s requests as a “fishing expedition.” He stated that the studios are not attempting to dismantle AI technology or shutter Midjourney’s operations.
Instead, Singer maintains that the studios’ goal is to prevent the unauthorized use of their intellectual property, specifically demanding that Midjourney stop generating derivative works and distributing unauthorized copies of their famous characters.
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