AI Firm Midjourney Asks Hollywood Studios to Disclose Own AI Use

AI company Midjourney has filed a request with the court to compel major Hollywood studios, including Disney, to reveal their own information regarding their use of artificial intelligence. This comes amid an ongoing legal dispute where Midjourney faces accusations of copyright infringement.

Last year, Disney and Universal Pictures filed lawsuits against Midjourney, alleging that its AI models could generate images of copyrighted characters such as Bart Simpson and Darth Vader. Warner Bros. later joined the litigation. Midjourney is defending itself by arguing that using images of copyrighted characters to train AI models constitutes fair use.

The core of the dispute lies in the discovery process. Initially, a judge ruled that studios must provide information about their generative AI use only when it produces "consumer-facing" videos and images. However, Midjourney has requested this limitation be removed, deeming it unfair.

Midjourney argues that the studios' withholding of certain documents allows them to cherry-pick evidence that supports their claims while preventing Midjourney from obtaining material that could aid its defense. The company believes such withheld documents could demonstrate that studios themselves also engage in similar AI practices for content creation, such as storyboard generation or creative development.

Furthermore, Midjourney wants studios to provide all prompts used on its platform and the corresponding generated images, not just those tied to alleged infringement. Representatives for the studios have previously characterized Midjourney's requests as an attempt at broad and irrelevant discovery, stating their aim is not to ban AI or shut down Midjourney, but to prevent unauthorized use of their content.