Warner Bros sues Midjourney over alleged character theft in AI image generator

Warner Bros has initiated legal action against artificial intelligence startup Midjourney, claiming copyright infringement. According to reports, the company is alleging that the AI image generating platform allows users to create images and videos of characters like Superman, Batman, and Bugs Bunny without express permission.

Warner Bros claimed that the firm knowingly engaged in wrongful conduct, noting that the company previously had policies restricting subscribers from generating content based on infringing images, but recently lifted the prohibitions.

The company also mentioned that after the restrictions were lifted, Midjourney claimed to have improved the service.

Warner Bros initiates legal action against Midjourney

In the complaint filed at a Los Angeles federal court, Warner Bros also claimed that the theft enabled Midjourney to train its image and video service to offer subscribers high-quality, downloadable images of its characters in every scene imaginable.

“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 complaint reads.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, disgorgement of profit, and for Midjourney to halt further infringements.

This case comes after a similar lawsuit was filed in June against Midjourney by Walt Disney and Universal over characters including Darth Vader, Bart Simpson, Shrek, and the character Ariel from The Little Mermaid. “Midjourney is the quintessential copyright-free rider and a bottomless pit of plagiarism,” the studios said.

In the lawsuit filed in June, the companies claimed that Midjourney failed to honor repeated requests to halt its use of copyrighted materials or to introduce safeguards to eliminate infringement.

“We are bullish on the promise of AI technology and optimistic about how it can be used responsibly as a tool to further human creativity, but piracy is piracy, and the fact that it’s done by an AI company does not make it any less infringing,” Horacio Gutierrez, Disney’s executive president and chief legal officer, said.

Midjourney was also involved in a copyright suit last year after a group of ten artists was given the go-ahead by a federal judge in California court to continue their infringement lawsuit against the company and some others. The group claimed that Midjourney and the others scrapped and stored copyrighted artwork without consent.

Launched in 2022, the San Francisco-based company, headed by founder David Holz, has amassed nearly 21 million users as of September 2024 and more than $300 million in revenue at the same time.

Meanwhile, in an August 6 filing in the Universal and Disney case, the AI-image generator claimed that copyright law “does not confer absolute control” over the use of copyrighted works. Its founder has also previously compared the service to a search engine, noting that it learns from existing images the way humans study a painting to improve their technique.

Midjourney also claimed that the works used to train generative AI models were used under fair use, hoping to ensure the free flow of ideas and information. In the last few years, there have been so many lawsuits where authors, news companies, record labels, and even content creators have accused AI companies of using their materials without permission.

“The heart of what we do is develop stories and characters to entertain our audiences, bringing to life the vision and passion of our creative partners,” a spokesperson for Warner Bros Discovery said. “We filed this suit to protect our content, our partners, and our investments.”

Warner Bros operations include Warner Bros Entertainment, DC Comics, The Cartoon Network, Turner Entertainment, and Hanna-Barbera.

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