Warner Bros. Discovery is the latest media titan to sue Midjourney Inc. for copyright infringement, claiming the startup’s artificial intelligence (AI) image-generation technology allows millions of its paid subscribers to illegally crank out digital knockoffs of Superman, Batman, Bugs Bunny, and Wonder Woman.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal court in Los Angeles, alleges Midjourney “brazenly dispenses Warner Bros. Discovery’s intellectual property” and developed its AI technology using unauthorized copies of the studio’s copyrighted content. The complaint argues the platform actively promotes users to generate downloadable images and videos featuring iconic copyrighted Warner Bros. characters that include Batman, Wonder Woman, Scooby-Doo, and the Powerpuff Girls.
The lawsuit included side-by-side renderings of its characters and Midjourney’s reproductions to show identical details, such as the color of Scooby-Doo’s collar and fur.
“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 Warner Bros. Discovery spokesperson said in a statement. “Midjourney is blatantly and purposefully infringing copyrighted works, and we filed this suit to protect our content, our partners, and our investments.”
The entertainment behemoth says it is entitled to up to $150,000 in damages per infringed work.
Midjourney was not immediately available for comment.
The 4-year-old company, based in San Francisco, finds itself in the middle of a maelstrom over the use of movies and TV shows owned by major studios to teach AI systems.
In June, Midjourney was sued jointly by Walt Disney Co. and Universal, who charged the company engaged in content theft by plagiarizing their movies and TV shows.
Midjourney said in an August court filing that while its AI tool “had to be trained on billions of publicly available images,” it did so “in order to learn visual concepts” and how they correspond to language.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s lawsuit would strengthen the position of Disney and Universal, according to legal experts. The trio of entertainment companies own a significant portion of Hollywood’s most lucrative franchises. Disney’s portfolio features properties like Star Wars, Toy Story characters, Winnie the Pooh, The Simpsons, and its princess lineup. Universal’s collection includes powerhouse franchises such as Marvel’s Hulk, the Shrek series, and Despicable Me’s Minions.
