Jun 12, 2025 10:57:00

Disney and Universal sue image-generating AI Midjourney, calling it a 'bottomless pit of plagiarism'

On Wednesday, June 11, 2025, Disney and Universal filed a lawsuit against

Midjourney , an image-generating AI, for using popular characters that should be protected by copyright without permission. Disney and Universal have sharply criticized Midjourney as a 'bottomless swamp of plagiarism.'

Disney and Universal sue Midjourney for making AI ripoffs of their biggest characters | The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/685433/disney-universal-sue-midjourney-copyright-infringement

Hollywood studios target AI image generator in copyright lawsuit - Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/06/in-landmark-suit-disney-and-universal-sue-midjourney-for-ai-character-theft/

Disney And Universal Sue Midjourney Over AI 'Bootlegging'
https://kotaku.com/midjourney-ai-disney-lawsuit-copyright-marvel-star-wars-1851784340

In a complaint filed on June 11, 2025 in the District Court for the Central District of California, Disney and Universal call Midjourney 'a vending machine that generates an unlimited number of unauthorized copies of Disney and Universal copyrighted material.'

The complaint further alleges that 'By freely using Plaintiffs' copyrighted works and blatantly incorporating famous Disney and Universal characters, and distributing the copied images (and videos) without investing a single penny in their creation, Midjourney is a classic example of a copyright freeloader and a bottomless pit of plagiarism.'

The plaintiffs alleged that characters such as Wally, Deadpool, Iron Man, Lightning McQueen, Aladdin, Spider-Man, Groot, Elsa, Stormtroopers, Chewbacca, R2-D2, C-3PO, Yoda and Darth Vader were victims of plagiarism.

The lawsuit gives an example of how Midjourney can be instructed to generate an image of Yoda, and the app responds instantly.

Additionally, the plaintiffs allege that Midjourney uses copies of copyrighted characters in its marketing and advertising.

The plaintiffs also argue that while other AI image and video generation services have implemented copyright protection measures, such as rejecting certain prompts or screening for copyright infringement, Midjourney has so far ignored the companies' requests to stop infringing copyrights.

The plaintiffs are particularly concerned by Midjourney's upcoming video generation tool. In their complaint, the plaintiffs state that 'if released, the video generation tool will generate, publish, and distribute videos featuring Disney and Universal's copyrighted characters.' In addition, they add that since Midjourney is already training its AI with copyrighted content for the video generation tool, 'it is highly likely that Midjourney has already infringed the plaintiffs' copyrighted works.'

Below are some AI-generated images of characters that are supposed to be copyrighted that have been posted in large numbers on Midjourney's Explore page.

Disney and Universal have criticized Midjourney's copyright infringement as 'a textbook case of copyright infringement, not a gray area case under established copyright law,' and are seeking a jury trial.