Disney sued AI image startup Midjourney on June 11. The studios, including Universal, are cracking down on copyright infringement.
The lawsuit targets Midjourney for creating AI images that copy characters like Buzz Lightyear, Yoda, Elsa, and Wall-E. Disney claims this is blatant “bootlegging,” likening it to selling fake T-shirts.
Midjourney is a small company with just 11 employees but pulled in $200 million last year — big enough to cover legal costs. Disney’s move is a “shot across the bow” to the AI industry, aiming to send a warning to Google and OpenAI without directly suing those giants. 
The Writers Guild of America praised the studios for stepping up after years of AI-related strikes and debates.
Former Stability AI policy head Ben Brooks said studios want to “have their cake and eat it too” — protecting IP fiercely while using AI to cut costs.
Warner Bros. Discovery declined to join the suit. It’s unclear if others like Netflix or Paramount were invited. Hollywood has, until now, mostly focused on legislation around deepfakes rather than direct lawsuits.
The lawsuit doesn’t challenge the use of copyrighted material in training AI but focuses on the outputs—the AI-generated images. This avoids the thornier question of whether training itself violates copyright.
Animation Guild co-chair Roma Murphy said this signals studios aren’t rejecting AI completely, more just policing what it generates.
Midjourney will likely deny responsibility, arguing users are to blame for misuse.
Adam Eisgrau from Chamber of Progress said:
“It’s easy to look at these outputs that everybody’s very familiar with that users produce and say, ’Well, Midjourney’s responsible,’”
“Under the law, Midjourney’s users likely are responsible.”
Legal experts say Midjourney’s case is weaker than others on the fair use defense.
Disney appears open to letting Midjourney add filters to prevent infringement.
The Animation Guild sees this lawsuit as a crucial step to protect animators’ jobs.
AI committee co-chair Sam Tung said:
“It’s going to take a big player like the studios to bring them to heel,”
“Better late than never.”
This lawsuit is Hollywood’s first major copyright showdown with AI — and the fight is just beginning.
