Midjourney claims Hollywood studios may be doing 'exactly what' they're suing it for

Highlights

• Midjourney says internal AI records from the studios could be key to its copyright defence.
• The company argues Hollywood's use of AI should be examined alongside its own.
• Disney, Universal and Warner Bros. say the lawsuit is about unauthorised use of copyrighted characters.

Midjourney is seeking to turn the spotlight on Hollywood studios in its ongoing copyright dispute, arguing that Disney, Universal and Warner Bros. should disclose far more about how they use artificial intelligence behind the scenes.

In a fresh court filing, the AI company claims the studios are withholding documents that could reveal whether they rely on similar AI practices to those at the centre of the lawsuit.

Midjourney says the studios are revealing only part of the picture

The latest disagreement concerns the evidence both sides must exchange before the case goes to trial.

A judge previously ordered the studios to provide records relating to their use of generative AI, but limited that requirement to AI-generated content intended for public release.

Midjourney argues that restriction is too narrow. It says the studios are effectively choosing which records to produce while keeping other material out of the case.

According to the filing, the withheld documents could show "whether, behind closed doors, they are doing exactly what they are suing Midjourney for doing."

Internal AI projects could become part of the case

Midjourney argues that if the studios are training AI systems for internal tasks such as storyboarding, concept development or other creative processes, those records could help establish that such practices are already common within the film industry.

The company is also asking the court to order the studios to hand over every prompt they entered into Midjourney, together with every image the platform generated, instead of only the examples they claim infringe copyright.

Midjourney continues to maintain that training its AI models on copyrighted material falls within the scope of fair use.

Hollywood studios stand by their claims

The legal battle began when Disney and Universal alleged that Midjourney's image generator could create unauthorised depictions of characters including Bart Simpson and Darth Vader. Warner Bros. later filed a similar lawsuit.

The studios have rejected Midjourney's latest argument. Their lead attorney, David Singer, previously described the company's request for additional records as a "fishing expedition".

Singer has also argued that the studios are not attempting to prevent the development of AI technology. Instead, he said, they want Midjourney to stop creating, displaying and distributing images of their copyrighted characters without permission.