Disney, NBCUniversal sue AI image generation startup Midjourney for copyright infringement

Midjourney, the early AI image generation startup, is being sued by Disney and NBCUniversal on allegations of copyright infringement.

This is a significant case with huge consequences for the AI industry, as it’s the first to challenge this type of alleged AI-generated image copyright violation. Big Tech companies like OpenAI, Google, Meta, and Microsoft all offer some form of generative-AI image creation via chatbots.

The 110-page complaint is littered with what Disney and NBCUniversal say are clear examples of their characters being generated via Midjourney:

• Darth Vader, Stormtroopers (“Star Wars”)

• DreamWorks’ Minions, Shrek, and Po (“Kung Fu Panda”)

• Marvel’s Spider-Man, Iron Man, The Hulk

• Pixar’s Buzz Lightyear (“Toy Story”), Wall-E, and Lightning McQueen (“Cars”)

• Disney’s Simpsons, Ariel (“The Little Mermaid”), Elsa (“Frozen”), Aladdin, and Mufasa (“The Lion King”)

The complaint includes specific prompts that were used to generate the examples like:

“Darth Vader walking around the Death Star with a red lightsaber”

The list of examples included in the document covers some of the most recognizable, highest-grossing intellectual property from the past 50 years of American pop culture.

The plaintiffs call Midjourney “a bottomless pit of plagiarism,” writing in the complaint:

“By helping itself to Plaintiffs’ copyrighted works, and then distributing images (and soon videos) that blatantly incorporate and copy Disney’s and Universal’s famous characters — without investing a penny in their creation — Midjourney is the quintessential copyright free-rider and a bottomless pit of plagiarism. Piracy is piracy, and whether an infringing image or video is made with AI or another technology does not make it any less infringing.”

The complaint also says that Midjourney charges between $10 and $120 per month for subscriptions to the service, that the company did not respond to letters from Disney alerting it of the alleged copyright violations, and that after acknowledging the letter, Midjourney did not respond.