Midjourney Response Sets Stage for Pivotal Copyright Law

Gene Maddaus reports in Variety that Midjourney has filed its first response to a high-profile lawsuit from Disney and Universal, contesting the studios’ claim that the AI platform engaged in widespread copyright law infringement.

The case, Disney Enterprises Inc., MLV Film Finance, LucasFilm Ltd., et al v. Midjourney Inc., filed in June, accuses Midjourney of enabling users to generate images nearly identical to iconic Disney and Universal characters.

The studios frame this as deliberate misuse of their intellectual property.

The Midjourney response underscores emerging tensions between traditional copyright law and generative AI practices.

In its filing, Midjourney countered that copyright law does not grant rights holders absolute control over how their works are used, emphasizing that fair use is designed to balance private rights with broader public interests in creativity and information sharing.

The company also accused the studios of inconsistency, noting that Disney and Universal have themselves embraced AI technology in production.

The response pointed to evidence that employees at both companies use Midjourney, with dozens of subscribers linked to corporate email addresses, and highlighted CEO Bob Iger’s prior public endorsement of AI as a valuable artistic tool.

Midjourney stressed that its platform prohibits copyright infringement through its terms of service and argued that the mere resemblance of generated content to copyrighted works is insufficient to establish liability.

Unlike other lawsuits focused primarily on the legality of AI training data, this case zeroes in on the outputs, raising questions about the boundary between permissible creativity and unlawful copying.

Attorneys can view this case as a test of the reach of fair use, the enforceability of AI platform policies, and the extent to which rights holders can control derivative content in an evolving technological landscape.