Midjourney demands Hollywood studios reveal own AI usage in copyright fight
AI startup turns tables, asking Disney and Warner Bros. to show their AI cards.
Midjourney, the AI image-generation startup, is escalating its legal battle with Hollywood studios by demanding they reveal details of their own generative AI usage. Disney, Universal, and Warner Bros. sued Midjourney last year for copyright infringement, claiming its models can produce images of iconic characters like Bart Simpson and Darth Vader. A judge earlier ruled that the studios must disclose their AI usage only when it leads to consumer-facing content. Now, Midjourney is seeking to overturn that limitation, arguing it unfairly lets the studios cherry-pick documents that support their market harm claims while withholding evidence that could help Midjourney's fair use defense.
Midjourney contends that if the studios internally develop image-generating AI models for storyboarding or ideation, that would demonstrate a widespread industry practice of training AI on unlicensed copyrighted content. The startup also wants the studios to reveal every prompt they entered into Midjourney and all resulting outputs, not just those that allegedly infringed. The studios' lead attorney, David Singer, dismissed the request as a "fishing expedition" and reiterated that the studios simply want Midjourney to stop copying their characters without authorization. The outcome could set a significant precedent for how fair use applies to AI training data in creative industries.
- Judge limited discovery to consumer-facing AI content; Midjourney seeks to expand to internal use.
- Midjourney claims studios' own AI training on unlicensed content would prove industry custom.
- Studios' attorney calls the request a 'fishing expedition' and denies intent to shut down Midjourney.
Why It Matters
Could set precedent on whether AI training on copyrighted content is fair use or infringement.