Disney and Universal, usually rivals in movies and theme parks, have joined forces to fight a new kind of threat: AI-generated images. On June 10, 2025, they filed a lawsuit together against Midjourney, an AI company. Disney and NBCUniversal (NBCU) say Midjourney is breaking copyright law by letting users create and share pictures of famous characters like those from Star Wars, Minions, Frozen, Shrek, The Simpsons, Toy Story, and Marvel.
Variety reported earlier this week that the lawsuit alleges that Midjourney’s website “displays hundreds, if not thousands, of images generated by its Image Service at the request of its subscribers that infringe Plaintiffs’ Copyrighted Works.” Disney and Universal want money for the damage and are asking the court to stop Midjourney from making or sharing these images.
Midjourney makes money by selling subscriptions, letting users download images that copy Disney and Universal’s characters. The companies call Midjourney a “quintessential copyright free-rider and a bottomless pit of plagiarism.”
They add:
“By helping itself to Plaintiffs’ copyrighted works, and then distributing images (and soon videos) that blatantly incorporate and copy Disney’s and Universal’s famous characters — without investing a penny in their creation — Midjourney is the quintessential copyright free-rider and a bottomless pit of plagiarism. Piracy is piracy, and whether an infringing image or video is made with AI or another technology does not make it any less infringing. Midjourney’s conduct misappropriates Disney’s and Universal’s intellectual property and threatens to upend the bedrock incentives of U.S. copyright law that drive American leadership in movies, television, and other creative arts.
Midjourney’s bootlegging business model and defiance of U.S copyright law are not only an attack on Disney, Universal, and the hard-working creative community that brings the magic of movies to life, but are also a broader threat to the American motion picture industry which has created millions of jobs and contributed more than $260 billion to the nation’s economy.”
This is the first time major movie studios have sued an AI company for copyright issues, making it a big moment in the battle between Hollywood and tech.
Disney’s top lawyer, Horacio Gutierrez, added:
“Our world-class IP is built on decades of financial investment, creativity and innovation—investments only made possible by the incentives embodied in copyright law that give creators the exclusive right to profit from their works. We are bullish on the promise of AI technology and optimistic about how it can be used responsibly as a tool to further human creativity. But piracy is piracy, and the fact that it’s done by an AI company does not make it any less infringing.”
NBCUniversal’s lawyer, Kim Harris, added:
“Creativity is the cornerstone of our business. We are bringing this action today to protect the hard work of all the artists whose work entertains and inspires us and the significant investment we make in our content. Theft is theft regardless of the technology used, and this action involves blatant infringement of our copyrights.”
While Disney and Universal have used AI in some of their own projects, this lawsuit shows they are serious about protecting their characters and the rights of their artists. The case highlights the growing debate over how AI should be used in the creative world, and how to keep people from stealing or copying others’ work, no matter what technology is used.
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English (US) · 