Warner Bros. sues Midjourney to stop AI knockoffs of Batman, Scooby-Doo

Warner Bros. has initiated legal proceedings against Midjourney, alleging that the AI company is unlawfully profiting from the generation of images featuring iconic characters. This lawsuit marks a significant escalation in the ongoing legal battle over intellectual property rights in the realm of artificial intelligence. The complaint, filed on Thursday, seeks to counter defenses previously put forth by Midjourney in response to similar lawsuits from Disney and Universal Studios earlier this year. These major studios have accused Midjourney of utilizing image generation models that infringe upon their rights to beloved characters such as Darth Vader and figures from The Simpsons. In its filing, Warner Bros. emphasizes its ownership of various comic book heroes, including Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman. It also defends the rights to cultural icons like Scooby-Doo and Bugs Bunny, alongside contemporary characters such as Rick and Morty. The complaint asserts that Midjourney is recklessly distributing Warner Bros. Discovery’s intellectual property as if it were its own. Furthermore, it accuses the AI platform of enabling users to generate images featuring famous copyrighted characters in virtually any scenario. Warner Bros. is seeking to halt Midjourney's operations and recover profits allegedly gained through the use of these cherished characters. The studio describes Midjourney as “defiant and undeterred” in light of the existing litigation from Disney and Universal, claiming that the AI company has recently eliminated copyright protections in a bid for greater profit. The complaint outlines a need for a permanent injunction to stop what Warner Bros. characterizes as a continuous stream of infringing images. It argues that the alleged violations are extensive, intentional, and relentless. Specific examples cited include prompts for generating “screencaps” that closely resemble actual movie frames—something that was reportedly anticipated to be blocked by Midjourney but has not been. If Warner Bros. prevails in this case, the financial repercussions for Midjourney could be severe. The studio is requesting maximum statutory damages of $150,000 for each infringing output, and even a modest estimate of 2,000 infringing outputs could lead to liabilities exceeding Midjourney's total projected revenue for 2024, estimated at around $300 million.