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Disney and Universal sued Midjourney for alleged copyright infringement last year
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The startup argues that training its AI models on images of copyrighted characters is permitted under fair use.
Key facts
- Disney and Universal sued Midjourney for alleged copyright infringement last year, noting that the startup’s image-generation models could create images of characters, such as Bart Simpson and Darth
- The studios’ lead attorney David Singer previously claimed Midjourney was seeking this documentation as part of a “fishing expedition
- The startup argues that training its AI models on images of copyrighted characters is permitted under fair use
- As part of an ongoing legal dispute with three Hollywood studios, AI startup Midjourney is seeking to compel those studios to reveal how they use AI themselves
Summary
As part of an ongoing legal dispute with three Hollywood studios, AI startup Midjourney is seeking to compel those studios to reveal how they use AI themselves. Disney and Universal sued Midjourney for alleged copyright infringement last year, noting that the startup’s image-generation models could create images of characters, such as Bart Simpson and Darth Vader, who are owned by the studios. The current dispute revolves around the documentation the studios will need to produce during the discovery process. In its latest filing, Midjourney seeks to overturn that limitation, arguing that it “unfairly” allows the studios “to cherry-pick only those documents they believe support their market harm claims while depriving Midjourney of documents that would support its defenses.”