Disney and NBCUniversal have filed a joint federal lawsuit against AI image generator Midjourney, alleging widespread copyright infringement of their protected characters and properties in what represents the first major Hollywood challenge to AI companies.

The 110-page complaint, filed in Los Angeles federal district court, accuses Midjourney of using “countless” copyrighted works to train its AI models without permission, resulting in “innumerable” unauthorised copies of characters from Star Wars, Shrek, The Simpsons, Despicable Me, and other properties.

The lawsuit describes Midjourney as “the quintessential copyright-free-rider and a bottomless pit of plagiarism,” alleging the company systematically incorporated protected intellectual property into its training datasets to generate derivative images featuring recognisable characters.

The joint action marks the entry of major Hollywood studios into the growing field of AI copyright litigation, joining existing cases against OpenAI, Meta, and Perplexity AI.

The lawsuit carries significant weight given Disney and NBCUniversal’s extensive content libraries and substantial legal resources.

“We are bullish on the promise of A.I. technology and optimistic about how it can be used responsibly as a tool to further human creativity,” said Horacio Gutierrez, Disney’s general counsel.

“But piracy is piracy, and the fact that it’s done by an AI company does not make it any less infringing.”

NBCUniversal’s general counsel, Kim Harris, emphasised protection of artistic investment, stating, “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.”

The lawsuit centres on fundamental questions about whether AI companies can legally use copyrighted materials for training purposes without obtaining licenses or permission from rights holders.

The complaint includes specific examples of AI-generated images that allegedly reproduce protected characters with sufficient similarity to constitute infringement.

Disney and NBCUniversal argue that Midjourney’s business model depends on unauthorised use of their intellectual property, enabling users to generate images featuring valuable characters without compensation to the original creators or studios.

The case represents a significant escalation in the ongoing battle between content creators and AI companies over training data usage.

The outcome could establish important precedents for how AI companies must approach copyrighted material in their development processes.

The entertainment industry has increasingly focused on AI regulation and copyright protection as generative AI tools become more sophisticated and widely accessible.

The lawsuit reflects broader concerns about AI companies potentially undermining traditional content creation and licensing models.

Midjourney has not yet responded to requests for comment regarding the allegations.

The company’s defence strategy and response to the specific copyright claims will likely influence similar cases across the AI industry.

The federal court proceedings will examine whether current copyright law adequately addresses AI training practices and whether fair use protections apply to machine learning applications involving protected content.