Key facts
- Midjourney is involved in a legal dispute with Hollywood studios Disney, Universal, and Warner Bros. over alleged copyright infringement.
- The studios claim Midjourney's AI models create images of their copyrighted characters without authorization.
- Midjourney argues that training its AI on copyrighted material is permissible under fair use.
- Midjourney is seeking to expand the scope of discovery to include studios' internal and 'consumer-facing' AI usage.
- The AI startup contends that studios' internal AI development practices could support its defense and demonstrate industry custom.
AI image generation company Midjourney is pushing back against Hollywood studios in an ongoing copyright dispute, seeking to uncover how the studios themselves utilize artificial intelligence technologies. Disney, Universal, and Warner Bros. have each sued Midjourney, alleging that the company's AI models infringe on their copyrights by generating images of famous characters like Bart Simpson and Darth Vader.
Midjourney maintains that its use of copyrighted material for training its AI models falls under fair use. The current legal battle centers on the documentation studios must provide during the discovery phase. A previous ruling limited this disclosure to AI usage that resulted in "consumer-facing" videos and images.
In its latest legal filing, Midjourney aims to overturn this restriction, arguing it unfairly disadvantages its defense by allowing studios to selectively provide information. The startup contends that studios are withholding documents that could reveal their own internal practices of training AI on unlicensed copyrighted content, which Midjourney believes would demonstrate an industry-wide custom.
Furthermore, Midjourney is requesting that the studios disclose all prompts and resulting outputs used in their AI development, not solely those associated with the allegedly infringing images. The studios' lead attorney, David Singer, has characterized Midjourney's requests as a "fishing expedition," asserting that the studios aim to prevent unauthorized copying of their characters rather than halt AI technology itself.