Warner Bros. Discovery sues Midjourney for generating ‘countless’ copies of its characters

Warner Bros. Discovery is suing Midjourney over claims the AI startup “brazenly dispenses its intellectual property as if it were its own,” as reported earlier by The Hollywood Reporter. In the lawsuit, Warner Bros. Discovery alleges that Midjourney generated “countless” infringing images and videos of its copyrighted characters, including Superman, Bugs Bunny, Scooby-Doo, and more.

Warner Bros. Discovery accuses Midjourney of reproducing, displaying, and distributing “unauthorized derivatives” of its intellectual property through its AI image and video generation tools. Throughout the lawsuit, Warner Bros. Discovery shares several examples of how Midjourney’s AI tools seem to have generated images of copyrighted characters, like Wonder Woman, Tweety, the Power Puff Girls, and even Rick and Morty in response to prompts asking to see the characters in certain situations.

Additionally, Warner Bros. Discover claims that Midjourney will generate infringing images even if prompts don’t mention a specific character. For instance, Midjourney allegedly generated downloadable images of Superman, Batman, and Flash after receiving the prompt, “classic comic book superhero battle.” Midjourney is facing a similar copyright lawsuit from Disney and Universal, which called the company’s AI image generator a “virtual vending machine” that generates “endless authorized copies” of their work.

Midjourney allegedly generated these images in response to a prompt that asks for a “classic comic book superhero battle.” | Image: Warner Bros. Discovery via Midjourney" data-portal-copyright="Image: Warner Bros. Discovery via Midjourney">

Warner Bros. Discovery claims Midjourney is aware of the “breathtaking scope of its piracy and copyright infringement” but refuses to protect copyright holders.

“It is hard to imagine copyright infringement that is any more willful than what Midjourney is doing here,” the lawsuit states. “Midjourney is purposefully exploiting Warner Bros. Discovery’s valuable intellectual property to attract subscribers to Midjourney, and it is profiting by providing subscribers with endless copies and derivatives of Warner Bros. Discovery’s Copyrighted Works.”

Warner Bros. Discovery is suing Midjourney for damages related to the alleged copyright infringement, and is asking the court to block Midjourney from copying, displaying, or distributing its intellectual property, as well as to stop the company from offering AI tools without copyright protection measures. Midjourney didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.