Warner Bros Sues AI Firm Midjourney Over Superman, Scooby-Doo

Warner Bros Discovery has filed a lawsuit against Midjourney, an AI photo generation company, accusing it of outright theft of copyrighted works. The complaint, submitted in a Los Angeles federal court, alleges that Midjourney used Warner Bros' characters such as Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Bugs Bunny, and Scooby-Doo without authorization to train its image and video services. This enabled Midjourney to provide subscribers with high-quality, downloadable images of these characters across various scenes.

Warner Bros asserts that Midjourney knew its actions were wrongful. Evidence cited includes a previous attempt to restrict users from generating videos based on infringing images, which Midjourney reversed last month, despite previously touting the restrictions as an "improvement." Warner Bros argues that Midjourney’s decision to eliminate protection for copyrighted content demonstrates a calculated pursuit of profit at the expense of copyright holders.

The lawsuit aims for unspecified damages, disgorgement of profits, and a court order to stop future infringements. This case follows a similar lawsuit filed earlier in the year by Disney and Universal against Midjourney, targeting characters like Darth Vader, Bart Simpson, Shrek, and Ariel from "The Little Mermaid."

Founded in 2022 by David Holz in San Francisco, Midjourney boasts nearly 21 million users as of September 2024 and is estimated to have earned around $300 million in revenue in 2024. Warner Bros' complaint highlights the company's significant growth and influence within the AI-generated imagery market.

Midjourney and its legal team have not yet responded to requests for comment. In a prior filing related to the Disney and Universal case, Midjourney claimed copyright law "does not confer absolute control" over works and argued that training AI models with copyrighted material constitutes fair use, emphasising the importance of free exchange of ideas.

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Warner Bros stated its commitment to safeguarding its intellectual property, saying, "The core of our work is creating stories and characters to engage our audiences and realize the vision and passion of our creative partners." The lawsuit highlights ongoing worries about AI companies utilising copyrighted material without consent, leading creators and rights owners to pursue legal action.

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