AI firms’ increasing use of open-source imagery on the internet to train their AI models has been heavily criticized. Entertainment giants Walt Disney Co. and NBC Universal have clearly reached the end of their rope, filing a joint lawsuit on Wednesday in a Los Angeles U.S. district court that includes detailed accounts of Midjourney’s alleged stealing of “countless” copyrighted works to train its AI engines in the creation of AI-generated images.
The companies state in their complaint that “Midjourney is the quintessential copyright-free-rider and a bottomless pit of plagiarism. Piracy is piracy, and whether an infringing image or video is made with AI or another technology does not make it any less infringing.”
Midjourney is accused of stealing copyrighted visuals from well-known Disney and Universal franchises such as “Star Wars” and “The Simpsons,” infringing on popular characters such as Shrek, Homer Simpson, and Darth Vader.
The lawsuit jointly filed by Universal and Disney seeks unspecified damages from Midjourney and aims to prevent them from launching an upcoming video service “without appropriate copyright protection measures.” Further claims state that their practices have helped Midjourney become as profitable as it has in such a short period of time. Midjourney reported $300 million in revenue last year, six times more than in 2022.
The use of AI has begun to creep into everyday life, with the public becoming more and more reliant on the technology. But for the first time, the entertainment industry, spearheaded by Disney and Universal, has truly begun to feel the effects of AI’s influence. In the past few years, many media outlets such as the New York Times have engaged in the increasingly intense battle against AI and copyright violations.
The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement, claiming the AI company used thousands of their articles to train ChatGPT and other AI models. Similarly, Sony Music Entertainment filed a lawsuit against AI song generators, Suno and Udio, and in the same vein, while Getty Images sued Stability AI. However, Hollywood and Universal’s case against Midjourney, a well-known AI image generation service, marks the first time that Hollywood players have gotten involved in the ongoing battle against AI. The lawsuit also symbolizes another step towards combating AI in various creative industries where human creativity and innovation are essential.
