[Image: Odviously / Deviant Art]
Disney and Universal are taking AI firm Midjourney to court, accusing its image generator of being a “bottomless pit of plagiarism.”
The Hollywood heavyweights claim Midjourney’s tool cranks out countless free copies of lucrative characters like Darth Vader, Frozen’s Elsa, and the ever-joyful Minions.
It’s the latest twist in Hollywood’s complicated love-hate saga with AI. Studios are eager to harness AI’s power for profit, but don’t seem so keen on watching their intellectual property go rogue.
Midjourney’s tool generates images based on user prompts, whether that’s a snowy castle or Darth Vader riding a unicorn. The idea is similar to other AI image generators, so we’re not so sure why Disney and Universal are singling out Midjourney.
Grok seems to have no qualms about humiliating Vader for free.
It may have something to do with their expected launch of their “soon-to-be-released video service”. In the complaint, Disney and Universal said Midjourney made $300m (£221m) last year alone.
In the lawsuit filed in federal district court in Los Angeles, the studios gave examples of Midjourney-generated images that included Disney characters such as Star Wars’ Yoda and Marvel’s Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk and Iron Man.
Disney’s chief legal officer, Horacio Gutierrez, said the firm was “optimistic” about how AI “can be used responsibly as a tool to further human creativity”.
“But piracy is piracy, and the fact that it’s done by an AI company does not make it any less infringing,” he said.
Syracuse University law professor Shubha Ghosh didn’t mince words when weighing in on Midjourney’s legal troubles, saying: “A lot of the images that Midjourney produces just seem to be copies of copyrighted characters that might be in new locations or with a new background.”
In other words, same Elsa, just with different scenery.
“It doesn’t seem like they’re being transformed in a creative or imaginative way,” he said. Ghosh added that there is a recognition in copyright law that creativity can build on other works as long as it adds something new.
Randy McCarthy, who heads the IP Law Group at U.S. firm Hall Estill, offered a dose of realism: “No litigation is ever a slam dunk, and that is true for Disney and Universal in this case.”
He pointed to complications around Midjourney’s terms of service and classic fair use arguments that courts will need to sort through before any gavel comes down.
Midjourney hasn’t responded to the BBC’s request for comment following the suit.
On its website, the San Francisco-based startup describes itself as “an independent research lab” run by David Holz, who previously founded Leap Motion. It boasts a “small self-funded team” with fewer than a dozen full-time staffers, including some big-name advisors like former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and Second Life creator Philip Rosedale.
Meanwhile, Hollywood’s relationship with AI continues its awkward dance. Just two years ago, actors and writers brought Tinseltown to a halt over concerns about AI taking creative jobs. Fast forward, and the technology is now being used across TV, films, and video games.
At the Oscars, AI-assisted voice alterations helped shape contenders like Emilia Perez and The Brutalist. And in the magic of movie-making, it’s already been used to de-age legends like Tom Hanks and Harrison Ford.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that AI won’t be content to stay behind the curtain much longer, even if that makes the old guard nervous.
[Source: BBC]
