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LLMs & Generative AI

Midjourney Challenges Studios' AI Document Secrecy in...

By AI Daily Post Edited by
• Updated: • 3 min read

Hollywood studios suing AI companies for copyright infringement is a clean, righteous story. Until the accused asks what the studios are doing in their own back rooms.

In a California court, image generator Midjourney is now demanding Disney, Universal, and Warner Bros. disclose their internal artificial intelligence projects. The studios had sued Midjourney, claiming its tools can create illegal pictures of characters like Darth Vader.

Midjourney’s response is simple: prove you aren’t doing the same thing. The startup argues that if these companies are secretly training AI models on copyrighted work for tasks like storyboarding, their lawsuit is hypocritical. A judge previously limited what evidence Midjourney could request, focusing only on public AI products.

Midjourney calls that a shield for the studios’ own behavior.

Midjourney goes on to claim that the “documents [the studios] are withholding are precisely those that would reveal whether, behind closed doors, they are doing exactly what they are suing Midjourney for doing.”

The fight over these documents is the whole case. Midjourney winning would mean a new rule for AI lawsuits: if you accuse someone of misconduct, your own related conduct is fair game. It would puncture the studios’ moral position.

Their resistance to handing over internal records suggests they know this. They want to define infringement as something only outsiders do. The outcome will decide whether AI copyright battles are fought on one uneven playing field or another, slightly less uneven one.

It is a fight about evidence, and who gets to hide it.

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Common Questions Answered

Why is Midjourney demanding Disney, Universal, and Warner Bros. disclose their internal AI projects?

Midjourney is using a legal strategy to challenge the studios' copyright infringement claims by requesting disclosure of the studios' own artificial intelligence projects. The company argues that if the studios are suing for AI misconduct, they should also reveal what AI work they are conducting internally, creating a level playing field in the lawsuit.

What are the studios accusing Midjourney of creating illegally?

The studios claim that Midjourney's image generator tools can create illegal pictures of copyrighted characters like Darth Vader. This forms the basis of their copyright infringement lawsuit against the AI company.

What would be the broader legal impact if Midjourney wins the document disclosure fight?

If Midjourney succeeds in forcing the studios to disclose their internal AI projects, it would establish a new precedent in AI lawsuits where accusers must also reveal their own related conduct. This would weaken the studios' moral position and potentially shift the balance in how AI copyright battles are fought, making the legal playing field less uneven.

Why might the studios be resisting the disclosure of their internal AI records?

The studios' resistance to handing over internal records suggests they are aware that disclosure could undermine their legal position and moral authority in the case. They appear to want to define AI infringement as something only outsiders like Midjourney do, rather than acknowledging their own internal AI development activities.

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