Warner Bros. Discovery sues Midjourney for copyright theft

Media company Warner Bros Discovery has filed a lawsuit in opposition to AI startup Midjourney, accusing it of copyright infringement for permitting customers to generate pictures and movies of characters corresponding to Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Bugs Bunny and Scooby-Doo with out permission.

In a complaint filed in Los Angeles federal court, Warner Bros mentioned Midjourney used its works to coach AI fashions and supply subscribers downloadable content material that includes its characters.

The studio additionally mentioned Midjourney knowingly engaged in wrongful conduct, noting that it had as soon as restricted customers from creating movies based mostly on copyrighted pictures however later lifted these protections.

“Midjourney has made a calculated and profit-driven decision to offer zero protection for copyright owners even though Midjourney knows about the breathtaking scope of its piracy and copyright infringement,” the grievance mentioned.

Warner Bros is in search of damages, the return of any earnings earned from the alleged infringement, and an order to cease additional violations.

The transfer makes Warner Bros the third main leisure firm to pursue Midjourney for damages following Disney and Universal’s comparable lawsuit filed earlier this 12 months. 

In that lawsuit, Disney and Universal accused Midjourney of misusing characters together with Darth Vader, Bart Simpson and Shrek. Midjourney argued that coaching generative AI fashions on copyrighted works falls beneath the honest use doctrine of U.S. copyright legislation.

Midjourney, based in 2022 by David Holz, had about 21 million customers and $300 million in income in 2024, based on Warner Bros.

Cover picture: Midjourney/Creative commons