On Wednesday, Disney and Universal filed a lawsuit against the generative AI platform Midjourney, accusing it of widespread copyright infringement. The lawsuit, filed in the federal court in Los Angeles, contains dozens of examples of images generated by Midjourney featuring well-known studio characters—from Darth Vader and Elsa to Minions and Shrek. The plaintiffs claim that the service ignores their demands to cease using protected works and does not even attempt to implement technical restrictions to protect the content.
In the lawsuit text, Midjourney is described as a “bottomless pit of plagiarism” and a “virtual machine” that endlessly creates unauthorized copies of famous Disney and Universal images. According to studio representatives, the model not only retains libraries of their films but also actively distributes generated images, using them to promote its own products. Among the cited examples are vivid illustrations of Yoda, Iron Man, Buzz Lightyear, Shrek, Po from “Kung Fu Panda,” and other recognizable characters.
Particular concern for the rights holders is the announced launch of a video generator by Midjourney, which Disney and Universal believe is already being trained on their materials and will soon be able to create videos with the same characters. The studios demand not only monetary compensation but also an immediate court injunction to stop the further use of their content in Midjourney’s services, including future video tools.
Founded in San Francisco in 2021, Midjourney has become one of the most prominent platforms for generating images based on text prompts. Last year, the company earned over three hundred million dollars in revenue through paid subscriptions but has repeatedly faced criticism for using copyrighted works. Representatives of Midjourney are currently refraining from commenting on the new lawsuit.
