Warner Bros. Sues Midjourney Over AI Copies of Batman, Scooby-Doo
▼ Summary
– Warner Bros. has filed a lawsuit against Midjourney, alleging the AI company infringes on its intellectual property by generating images of characters like Superman and Batman.
– The complaint accuses Midjourney of profiting from models trained to produce outputs of popular copyrighted characters without authorization.
– Warner Bros. claims Midjourney remains defiant despite similar litigation from Disney and Universal, and has recently removed copyright protections.
– The lawsuit includes examples of prompts generating specific characters and scenes, such as “screencaps” from films like The Dark Knight.
– Warner Bros. is seeking maximum statutory damages of $150,000 per infringing output, which could financially devastate Midjourney if thousands are found.
Warner Bros. has initiated legal proceedings against Midjourney, marking a significant escalation in the ongoing conflict between major entertainment studios and artificial intelligence platforms. The lawsuit, filed on Thursday, directly challenges the AI company’s use of copyrighted characters, positioning it as a deliberate and systematic infringement of intellectual property. This move follows similar actions taken earlier this year by Disney and Universal, suggesting a coordinated industry effort to curb what studios perceive as unauthorized commercial exploitation of their most valuable assets.
The complaint alleges that Midjourney’s image generation models are trained to replicate iconic figures such as Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman without permission. It also cites characters like Scooby-Doo, Bugs Bunny, and Rick and Morty as examples of properties that have been wrongfully used to attract users and drive subscription revenue. Warner Bros. contends that the AI service enables subscribers to generate scenes featuring these copyrighted characters in virtually any context, effectively treating Warner’s intellectual property as its own.
According to the filing, Midjourney has shown a defiant and undeterred attitude despite the earlier litigation from Disney and Universal. Warner Bros. claims the company has even removed certain copyright protections in what it describes as a continued pursuit of profit. The studio is seeking a permanent injunction to halt the production of what it calls “countless infringing images,” alongside a demand for maximum statutory damages.
Notably, the complaint includes specific examples of prompts that allegedly result in outputs closely resembling Warner Bros. content. These include requests for “screencaps” from films like The Dark Knight, as well as detailed descriptions of animated characters in distinctive settings. Some of these prompts were shared by users on Midjourney’s Discord server, further illustrating the widespread use of protected properties.
The financial stakes are considerable. Warner Bros. is pursuing damages of up to $150,000 per infringing output. If the court finds that just 2,000 such outputs exist, the total penalty could exceed $300 million, a figure that surpasses Midjourney’s reported revenue for 2024. The outcome of this case may set a critical precedent for how AI companies handle copyrighted material in the future.
(Source: Ars Technica)
