By India McCarty
Disney and Universal might be rivals at the box office, but the companies are united when it comes to protecting their work from AI — they recently sued AI company Midjourney for copyright infringement. Now, Midjourney has hit back.
“For more than 100 years, Disney and Universal have delighted audiences around the world by investing in and fostering American creative innovation and producing some of the greatest motion pictures and fictional characters of all time,” the lawsuit, filed by the companies earlier this summer, explained.
The suit continued, “Midjourney, however, seeks to reap the rewards of Plaintiffs’ creative investment by selling an artificial intelligence (‘AI’) image-generating service (‘Image Service’) that functions as a virtual vending machine, generating endless unauthorized copies of Disney’s and Universal’s copyrighted works.”
Disney and Universal accused Midjourney of “blatantly” copying their characters, calling the company “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,” the suit concluded.
Disney and Universal have filed a lawsuit against AI company Midjourney over tools that allow users to create images and videos involving their characters.
(https://t.co/yuW2UhkUsf) pic.twitter.com/5YdboLhTsr
— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) June 11, 2025
However, Midjourney recently responded to these accusations in a response filed earlier this week, saying, “Copyright law does not confer absolute control over the use of copyrighted works. The limited monopoly granted by copyright must give way to fair use, which safeguards countervailing public interests in the free flow of ideas and information.”
Midjourney also argued that Disney and Universal are trying to “have it both ways,” claiming that “many dozens” of their subscribers have Disney and Universal email accounts, proving that the companies’ own employees utilize Midjourney’s services.
“Plaintiffs cannot have it both ways, seeking to profit — through their use of Midjourney and other generative AI tools — from industry-standard AI training practices on the one hand, while on the other hand accusing Midjourney of wrongdoing for the same,” their statement explained.
Midjourney has responded to Disney & Universal’s lawsuit.
Related: Hollywood Studio Warns Big Tech Not to Steal Movies to Train AI
Midjourney argues that the studios are trying to “have it both ways,” using AI tools themselves while seeking to punish them.
Midjourney argues its use of copyrighted works to train its AI qualifies as fair use. pic.twitter.com/rup8mQhcH0
— Boardwalk Times (@BoardwalkTimes) August 7, 2025
Disney’s CEO, Bob Iger, has spoken positively about AI in the past, calling the technology “the most powerful technology that our company has ever seen, including its ability to enhance and enable consumers to access, experience and enjoy our entertainment.”
He said the tech allowed the company to be more “efficient” but cautioned against its overuse during a recent shareholder meeting.
“Given the speed that it is developing, we’re taking precautions to make sure of three things: One, that our IP is being protected. That’s incredibly important,” Iger said. “Second, that our creators are being respected, and last, that our customers are being considered and valued, particularly as this technology emerges rapidly.”
He concluded, “We believe in the power and the value and the importance of human creativity, and we also appreciate from over 100 years of experience that technology is an invaluable tool for artists, whether they’re filmmakers or Imagineers.”
Disney, Universal and Midjourney are still duking it out in the courts, but this recent legal battle has raised many questions about the use of AI in creative industries, as well as how far copyrights can protect material in the rapidly-growing world of AI.
Read Next: This Animated Comedy Includes Legal Warning to Ward Off AI Training
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