Warner Bros. sued Midjourney on Thursday, becoming the third studio to accuse the AI image-generating platform of blatant copyright violations.
In the complaint, Warner Bros. alleges that Midjourney willfully creates both still images and video of its characters, including Superman, Batman, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Tom and Jerry. The complaint also alleges that Midjourney recently eliminated guardrails that blocked users from creating videos that infringe on its IP.
“Midjourney thinks it is above the law,” the lawsuit states. “Without any consent or authorization by Warner Bros. Discovery, Midjourney brazenly dispenses Warner Bros. Discovery’s intellectual property as if it were its own.”
Warner Bros. is represented by the same lawyers who sued Midjourney on behalf of Disney and Universal in June, and the new complaint follows the same template.
In both cases, the studios argue that Midjourney users are creating infringing outputs — images and videos that closely resemble copyrighted characters. Both lawsuits also maintain that Midjourney could continue to offer its service with protections in place to prevent such duplication.
“But Midjourney has made a calculated and profit-driven decision to offer zero protection for copyright owners even though Midjourney knows about the breathtaking scope of its piracy and copyright infringement,” the WB lawsuit states.
In the Disney-Universal case, Midjourney has argued that AI training on copyrighted work is protected by “fair use.” The company also argued that its users are bound by the platform’s terms of service, which forbid violating others’ intellectual property rights.
Midjourney’s lawyers also accused the studios of hypocrisy, saying they are seeking to crack down on the use of “industry standard” AI practices while also seeking to profit from AI.
Warner Bros. was approached earlier this year about joining the Disney-Universal suit, but opted not to at that point.
Midjourney has since unveiled its video service and a 24/7 streaming channel on its own website and on YouTube — potentially posing a greater competitive threat to the studios. Midjourney’s discussion of adding “channels” on its live stream suggests an “intent to expand into the traditional television or streaming markets,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit alleges that users can easily prompt the service to generate infringing images and videos of the Joker, Flash, Scooby-Doo, and many other copyrighted characters.
The suit seeks statutory damages as well as an injunction that would block Midjourney from infringing on WB’s copyrights.
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