Midjourney calls out Disney and Universal amid an ongoing legal battle concerning intellectual property rights.
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Multi-billion-dollar AI technology company Midjourney has responded to the lawsuit filed against it by Disney and Universal, claiming the pair are trying to play the situation “both ways.”
Disney and Universal teamed up earlier this year to file the lawsuit, which claims Midjourney has allowed intellectual property to be infringed upon with its generative AI tools.
Disney and Universal claim Midjourney trained its AI model on copyrighted material. In the lawsuit, the two referred to Midjourney as a “bottomless pit of plagiarism.”
Midjourney isn’t just lying down, however. In its new statement, the company claims that both Universal and The Walt Disney Company have actually benefited from the use of generative AI, pointing out that its various tools are popular among players within the industry.
Midjourney also highlighted previous comments made by Disney CEO Bob Iger. “AI may, in fact, be the most powerful technology that our company has ever seen,” said Iger during a shareholder’s meeting this year.
“We believe in the power and the value and the importance of human creativity, and we also appreciate from over 100 years of experience that technology is an invaluable tool for artists, whether they’re filmmakers or Imagineers.”
David Holz started Midjourney in 2021. Holz has defended the company’s use of images for AI creation and said it’s challenging to trace hundreds of millions of creations.
In 2023, Midjourney generated an estimated revenue of $300 and is valued at over $10 billion.
“We are bringing this action today to protect the hard work of all the artists whose work entertains and inspires us and the significant investment we make in our content,” said Kim Harris, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of NBCU, when the lawsuit was first filed.
“Theft is theft regardless of the technology used, and this action involves blatant infringement of our copyrights.”
AI was a central focal point during the lengthy strikes in Hollywood in 2023.
It’s unclear how the lawsuit will play out, as generative AI is a relatively new frontier. The prospect of AI being able to replicate images and stills from movies and TV has sparked fear throughout the entertainment industry.
