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Warner Bros. Discovery Sues Midjourney Over AI Images and Videos of Iconic Characters

The Los Angeles filing thrusts the unresolved fair‑use question over AI training into a potential precedent for the industry.

Overview

  • Warner Bros. Discovery filed a copyright lawsuit in Los Angeles federal court, becoming the third major studio after Disney and Universal to target Midjourney.
  • The complaint alleges Midjourney trained on studio works and generates near‑identical depictions of protected characters such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Bugs Bunny and Scooby‑Doo.
  • The studio seeks disgorgement of profits or statutory damages of up to $150,000 per infringed work, as well as injunctive relief.
  • Warner Bros. says Midjourney previously blocked videos from many infringing images but lifted that protection last month, touting the change as an improvement.
  • The filing presents side‑by‑side comparisons as evidence and notes Midjourney’s scale, while Midjourney has argued in the Disney/Universal case that training on copyrighted works is transformative fair use.