Disney, NBCUniversal sue AI creator Midjourney in copyright dispute
June 11 (UPI) -- Disney and NBCUniversal have joined legal teams in a lawsuit against AI image maker Midjourney over multiple claims of copyright infringement.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday in California's U.S. central district claimed that Midjourney, a generative artificial intelligence startup, utilized and distributed proprietary AI-generated characters from NBCU and Disney productions such as the Simpsons, Star Wars, Toy Story, Shrek and others.
It marked the first AI-related infringement lawsuit taken on by a Hollywood giant.
"This is an extremely significant development," IP lawyer Chad Hummel told Wired.
Meanwhile, Universal and Disney have petitioned for a jury trial and argue it risks upending "the bedrock incentives of U.S. copyright law."
The two plaintiffs claimed that Midjourney's own website displayed "hundreds, if not thousands, of images generated by its Image Service at the request of its subscribers" they believed infringed on their copyrighted works.
"Midjourney's bootlegging business model and defiance of U.S copyright law are not only an attack on Disney, Universal, and the hard-working creative community that brings the magic of movies to life, but are also a broader threat to the American motion picture industry," the complaint continued.
The joint suit further says that San Francisco-based Midjourney allegedly ignored prior legal requests to cease and desist and included dozens of examples in the complaint, calling Midjourney a "bottomless pit of plagiarism."
In 2023, Midjourney reported more than $200 million in revenue and in 2024 took in an additional $100 million on top of it to beat the prior year.
"Midjourney, which has attracted millions of subscribers and made $300 million last year alone, is focused on its own bottom line and ignored Plaintiffs' demands," according to court documents.
The two movie studios seek an unspecified amount in monetary damages, and further requested injunctive relief in order to prevent Midjourney from any future copyright violations.
Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
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What Trump Missed at the Kennedy Center
The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. Les Misérables is that rarest of things: a global phenomenon that gets political. The show—not just a musical but a megamusical; not just a drama but a melodrama—is an impassioned argument in the guise of an epic story. Like the Victor Hugo novel that inspired it, the musical rails against autocrats and the systems that elevate them. It resents injustice, inequality, and inhumanity. It does so loudly and extravagantly, and has no use for subtlety. Its gaudiest villain is a greedy innkeeper. Its true villain is unchecked power. And its collective protagonists are protesters who flow into the streets, shouting that their lives matter. Ever popular and ever lucrative, Les Mis has little need for a rebrand, though if it did, it could very well go by: Woke Mob! The Musical. But Hugo loved a good plot twist. 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