Midjourney wants Hollywood studios to reveal the details of their AI usage
As part of an ongoing legal dispute with three Hollywood studios, Midjourney is seeking to compel those studios to reveal how they use AI themselves.
As part of an ongoing legal dispute with three Hollywood studios, AI startup Midjourney is seeking to compel those studios to reveal how they use AI themselves.
Disney and Universal sued Midjourney for alleged copyright infringement last year, noting that the startup’s image-generation models could create images of characters, such as Bart Simpson and Darth Vader, who are owned by the studios. A few months later, Warner Bros. sued Midjourney as well.
The startup argues that training its AI models on images of copyrighted characters is permitted under fair use.
The current dispute revolves around the documentation the studios will need to produce during the discovery process. A judge previously ruled that the studios would indeed have to provide information about their generative AI usage – but only when it led to “consumer-facing” videos and images.
In its latest filing , Midjourney seeks to overturn that limitation, arguing that it “unfairly” allows the studios “to cherry-pick only those documents they believe support their market harm claims while depriving Midjourney of documents that would support its defenses.”
Midjourney goes on to claim that the “documents [the studios] are withholding are precisely those that would reveal whether, behind closed doors, they are doing exactly what they are suing Midjourney for doing.”
For example, the startup says that if the studios are developing image-generating AI models “for internal use in storyboarding or ideating content for film or TV, that evidence would equally demonstrate that it is an industry custom, even among the studios themselves, to download and train AI on unlicensed copyrighted content.”
In the filing, the startup also argues that the studios should reveal all the prompts they used in Midjourney, as well as the resulting outputs, not just the prompts that produced the allegedly infringing images.
The studios’ lead attorney David Singer previously claimed Midjourney was seeking this documentation as part of a “fishing expedition.”
He also said the studios “do not seek to stop AI technology or even shut down Midjourney’s business,” but rather “simply want Midjourney to stop copying their movies and TV shows and to stop distributing, publicly displaying, publicly performing, and creating derivative works that include copies of [their] famous characters without authorization.”
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Anthony Ha is TechCrunch’s weekend editor. Previously, he worked as a tech reporter at Adweek, a senior editor at VentureBeat, a local government reporter at the Hollister Free Lance, and vice president of content at a VC firm. He lives in New York City.
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Key takeaways
- The dispute between Midjourney and Hollywood studios highlights the need for a clear regulatory framework on AI usage in Brazil.
- The demand for transparency in studios' AI practices may reveal common practices that impact the creative industry.
- The outcome of the case could influence the interpretation of copyright in the digital age, affecting Brazilian startups.
Editorial analysis
The legal dispute between Midjourney and Hollywood studios, such as Disney and Universal, highlights a critical issue regarding the use of artificial intelligence in creative processes. For the Brazilian tech sector, this situation serves as a warning about the need for a clear regulatory framework that defines the boundaries of AI usage, especially concerning copyright. As Brazilian startups begin to explore AI-generated content, the lack of guidelines could lead to similar conflicts, hindering innovation and sector development.
Moreover, Midjourney's demand for transparency in the studios' AI practices could set an important precedent. If studios are compelled to disclose how they utilize AI, it may reveal common practices that were previously hidden, such as training on unlicensed content. This revelation could influence not only the operations of entertainment companies but also startups that rely on AI to create new products and services.
The outcome of this case will be crucial for understanding how the entertainment industry and technology intersect. The implications extend beyond the AI sector, affecting how copyright is interpreted in the digital age. Brazil, with its growing startup scene, should closely monitor how this case unfolds, as it could impact future local legislation and regulations regarding AI usage and copyright. What we are witnessing here is a battle not only for rights but for a new understanding of intellectual property in an increasingly digital world.
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