Lawsuits

Disney, Universal Sue AI Generator Midjourney Over Copyright

Published JUN 12 2025

Story

Above: Logo of Disney+. Image credit: Hakan Nural/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

The Facts

Disney and Universal filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against AI image generator Midjourney on Wednesday in federal court in Los Angeles, marking the first time major Hollywood studios have sued an artificial intelligence company over alleged copyright violations.
NBC
CNN
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The lawsuit alleges Midjourney trained its AI models on copyrighted material from both studios without permission and generated images featuring famous characters, including Star Wars figures, Simpsons characters, Shrek, and Marvel superheroes, in violation of copyright law.
One America
nytimes
Wsj
The studios claim Midjourney has 21 million subscribers and earned $300 million in revenue last year, calling the company a "bottomless pit of plagiarism" and "virtual vending machine" that creates "endless unauthorized copies" of their copyrighted works.
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CNN
Breitbart
Disney and Universal previously requested that Midjourney stop the alleged infringement and implement technological measures to prevent users from generating images of their intellectual property. However, the company "ignored" their demands, according to the complaint.
Wired
New York Post
The studios are seeking $150,000 per infringed work and a court order preventing future copyright infringement, with damages potentially exceeding $20 million based on more than 150 allegedly infringed works listed in an exhibit to the complaint.
TechCrunch
CNN
Breitbart
Midjourney CEO David Holz previously described the company's training process as "a big scrape of the internet" and compared AI learning to human creativity, arguing that there "isn't really a way to get a hundred million images and know where they're coming from."
ap
One America

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The Spin

Narrative A

This lawsuit represents the necessary protection of creative rights against blatant theft. Midjourney built a profitable business by stealing copyrighted characters without permission or compensation to creators. The company ignored direct requests to stop and continues to profit from the unauthorized use of beloved characters that took decades and billions to develop.

Cbr

The Indian Express

Narrative B

AI companies operate under fair use protections that allow them to learn from publicly available content, much like human artists study existing works. Midjourney's technology transforms input data into new creations, and restricting AI training would stifle innovation and technological progress in creative industries.

Wired