WBD joins Disney and Universal in suing AI firm Midjourney over copyright

WBD’s properties include The Joker

Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) has filed a lawsuit against San Francisco-based artificial intelligence (AI) firm Midjourney, accusing it of “blatantly and purposefully” infringing copyrighted material.

The suit, filed in a California federal court on Thursday, alleges that one of Midjourney’s programmes enables users to create images and videos of characters owned by WBD, including Superman, Batman, The Joker, Wonder Woman, Bugs Bunny and Scooby-Doo.

In the suit, the studio argues that Midjourney “brazenly dispenses” WBD IP “as if it were its own.”

“Midjourney thinks it is above the law. It sells a commercial subscription service, powered by artificial intelligence technology, that was developed using illegal copies of Warner Bros Discovery’s copyrighted works,” reads the suit.

“The service lets subscribers pick iconic Warner Bros Discovery copyrighted characters and then reproduces, publicly displays and performs, and makes available for download (i.e. distributes) infringing images and videos, and unauthorised derivatives, with every imaginable scene featuring those characters.”

In a separate statement, WBD said it believed Midjourney was “blatantly and purposefully infringing copyrighted works” and that it sought to “protect our content, our partners, and our investments.”

The lawsuit comes nearly three months after Disney and Universal jointly sued Midjourney, accusing it of being a “free-rider and bottomless pit of plagiarism.”

Prior to the Disney/Universal lawsuit, Hollywood studios had remained silent on the issue of AI companies training their models on copyrighted material. However, with WBD now the third major US studio to enter the fray, it would appear they are getting serious.

It should be noted, however, that they have not gone after any of the major players in text-to-video AI yet.

Studios and streamers are weighing how best to adopt AI, as they want to protect their copyrighted works but are also seeking to embrace new tools that can enhance creativity and save time and money, both in development and production.

Lionsgate and AMC Networks have signed formal pacts with Runway, while Netflix and Disney are reported to be working with the company.