Hollywood Vs AI: Midjourney Accused Of Turning Classic Characters Into Profit Machines – Is This Legal?

Warner Bros Discovery Sues Midjourney Over AI Replicas Of Iconic Characters

Warner Bros Discovery has taken legal action against San Francisco-based AI firm Midjourney, accusing the company of mass-producing unauthorised versions of its most famous characters.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleges that Midjourney’s tools churn out images and videos featuring Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Scooby-Doo and many more without permission.

According to the complaint, Midjourney not only generates recognisable versions of Warner Bros’ creations but also allows users to download them directly.

In one cited example, prompts as broad as “classic comic book superhero battle” allegedly returned images of Superman, Batman and the Flash.

Warner Bros claims this amounts to the company exploiting its work for profit while knowingly ignoring copyright law.

From Bugs Bunny To Rick And Morty In A Few Clicks

The lawsuit accuses Midjourney of reproducing and distributing “unauthorised derivatives” of its intellectual property.

Warner Bros provided examples of characters including Bugs Bunny, Tweety, the Powerpuff Girls and Rick and Morty being generated by the platform.

The company alleges Midjourney had previously imposed restrictions to block such outputs but later lifted them, marketing the change as an “improvement” for subscribers.

Warner Bros stated in the filing,

“Midjourney has made a calculated and profit-driven decision to offer zero protection for copyright owners even though Midjourney knows about the breathtaking scope of its piracy and copyright infringement.”

A United Front With Disney And Universal

Warner Bros’ lawsuit follows similar claims filed in June by Walt Disney and Comcast’s Universal Pictures.

Those studios argued that Midjourney functions like a “virtual vending machine” producing endless unauthorised copies of their works, from Darth Vader and Shrek to Ariel from “The Little Mermaid”.

The addition of Warner Bros to the case unites three of Hollywood’s most powerful studios—whose intellectual property libraries include DC Comics, Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera, Star Wars, Marvel characters, The Simpsons and Shrek.

The studios are collectively pushing the courts to draw sharper boundaries on whether AI-generated works can lawfully draw from copyrighted materials.

Midjourney Defends Its Position As Fair Use

Midjourney has previously argued in court filings that copyright law “does not confer absolute control” over how works are used, maintaining that training generative AI systems on copyrighted materials falls under fair use.

The company claims such practices support the “free flow of ideas and information.”

Led by founder David Holz, Midjourney launched in 2022 and has grown rapidly.

By September 2024, the platform counted nearly 21 million users and generated an estimated $300 million in annual revenue, according to Warner Bros’ complaint.

Despite its scale, the company has yet to comment publicly on the latest lawsuit.

A Turning Point for AI and Art?

Coinlive views this clash not just as a legal showdown, but as a pivotal moment for the AI-industry’s future.

Midjourney’s explosive growth, from its launch in 2022 to nearly 21 million users and around $300 million in 2024 revenue, demonstrates the enormous demand for AI-powered creativity.

Yet, the platform’s decision to remove safeguards against copyright infringement, even while aware of the legal risks, casts a shadow over its business model.

If the likes of Warner Bros Discovery, Disney, and Universal prevail, it could fundamentally shift the playing field—forcing AI innovators to rethink how they balance innovation with respect for intellectual property.