Disney and Universal have filed a lawsuit against AI company Midjourney, alleging widespread copyright infringement through the unauthorized use of characters such as Shrek, Darth Vader, Buzz Lightyear, and others. The lawsuit, filed in a U.S. District Court in California, describes Midjourney’s image generator as a “virtual vending machine” that creates “endless unauthorized copies” of copyrighted works. The complaint includes numerous example images allegedly generated using prompts for protected characters like Yoda, Elsa, Deadpool, Spider-Man, and Iron Man. Disney and Universal claim that Midjourney uses these copyrighted characters for promotion without permission and has ignored repeated demands to stop.
The studios also express concern over Midjourney’s upcoming video-generation tool, suggesting the company has already begun training it with copyrighted material. “That is textbook copyright infringement,” the plaintiffs argue, adding, “This case is not a ‘close call’ under well-settled copyright law.” They are seeking a jury trial. This marks the first major copyright lawsuit from Hollywood against a generative AI company, though other content creators, including The New York Times and author George R.R. Martin, have previously taken legal action against similar platforms. Midjourney has not yet commented on the lawsuit.
