TLDR: AI image generation platform Midjourney has formally responded to a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Disney and Universal, asserting that its use of copyrighted material for AI training falls under ‘fair use.’ The company argues that studios cannot prevent AI training on their works while simultaneously benefiting from AI tools themselves.
Midjourney, a prominent artificial intelligence image generation platform, has issued its formal response to a landmark copyright infringement lawsuit initiated by entertainment giants Disney and Universal in June. The AI firm contends that its practices, including the training of its AI models on copyrighted works and the generation of images, are protected under the doctrine of ‘fair use.’
The lawsuit, filed by Disney and Universal, accused Midjourney of ‘vast, intentional, and unrelenting copyright infringement.’ The studios alleged that Midjourney users could generate ‘nearly identical reproductions’ of their proprietary characters, including those from iconic franchises like Star Wars, Marvel superheroes, Disney animated films, Shrek, and Despicable Me. Unlike some other AI-related legal challenges, this suit primarily focuses on the outputs generated by the AI service, arguing that these outputs directly infringe on their intellectual property.
In its defense, filed on Wednesday, August 6, Midjourney’s legal counsel argued that AI training constitutes ‘fair use.’ They asserted that ‘Copyright law does not confer absolute control over the use of copyrighted works,’ and that ‘The limited monopoly granted by copyright must give way to fair use, which safeguards countervailing public interests in the free flow of ideas and information.’ Midjourney further elaborated that ‘Training a generative AI model to understand concepts by extracting statistical information embedded in copyrighted works is a quintessentially transformative fair use – a determination resoundingly supported by courts that have considered the issue.’
Midjourney also accused the studios of hypocrisy, stating they are attempting to ‘have it both ways.’ The company highlighted that Disney and Universal themselves utilize AI tools. Furthermore, Midjourney’s filing indicated that its service is widely used by visual effects companies and other vendors that collaborate directly with Disney and Universal. The response also pointed out that ‘many dozens’ of Midjourney’s subscribers possess email addresses linked to Disney and Universal, suggesting that employees of the studios are actively engaging with the service. This argument is bolstered by a quote from Disney CEO Bob Iger, who, during an annual meeting in March, expressed approval of AI, calling it ‘an invaluable tool for artists.’ Midjourney’s filing explicitly stated, ‘Plaintiffs cannot have it both ways, seeking to profit — through their use of Midjourney and other generative AI tools — from industry-standard AI training practices on the one hand, while on the other hand accusing Midjourney of wrongdoing for the same.’
Amidst this legal battle, Universal Pictures has begun adding legal warnings to the end credits of its films, such as ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ and ‘Jurassic World Rebirth,’ explicitly stating that the content ‘may not be used to train AI.’ This move underscores Hollywood’s broader efforts to protect copyrighted content from unauthorized AI use.
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Midjourney’s defense also addressed the studios’ focus on AI outputs, arguing that merely producing images similar to copyrighted works is insufficient to demonstrate infringement. The company noted that its users are obligated to comply with the platform’s terms of service, which prohibit the infringement of intellectual property rights. Legal experts suggest that the outcome of this case could significantly redefine the boundaries of fair use in the context of artificial intelligence, potentially impacting the future development and deployment of AI tools across creative industries.
