Disney and Universal sue AI image creator Midjourney, alleging copyright infringement

Studios accuse AI firm of piracy' and seek injunction over alleged use of copyrighted characters

Disney and Universal sued an artificial intelligence company on Wednesday, alleging copyright infringement. In their lawsuit, the entertainment giants called Midjourney's popular AI-powered image generator a bottomless pit of plagiarism" for its alleged reproductions of the studios' best-known characters.

The suit, filed in federal court in Los Angeles, claims Midjourney pirated the libraries of the two Hollywood studios, making and distributing without permission innumerable" copies of their marquee characters such as Darth Vader from Star Wars, Elsa from Frozen, and the Minions from Despicable Me. Midjourney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.