Disney Files Critical New Lawsuit Alongside Universal and Warner Bros.

Three large production studios have teamed together to file a lawsuit against an artificial intelligence (AI) company in China.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Universal Pictures have sued MiniMax for using its business by stealing others’ intellectual property since their service, Hailuo AI, allows users to generate content from copyrighted characters.

The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday, September 16th, in a California federal court. In the lawsuit, the studios claim that Mini Max’s alleged infringement poses an “existential threat.” With the quick growth of AI, it’s “only a matter of time until Hailuo AI can generate unauthorized, infringing videos” that are “substantially longer, and even eventually the same duration as a movie or television program.”

This is not the first lawsuit to go against companies training AI on content from the internet without compensating creators. Authors, record labels, news organizations, artists, and studios have sued these companies for taking their data.

Charles Rivkin, the CEO of Motion Picture Association, said that these AI companies should “be held accountable for infringing on the rights of American creators wherever they are located. We remain concerned that copyright infringement, left unchecked, threatens the entire American motion picture industry.”

MiniMax advertises its AI system as a “Hollywood studio in your pocket” and even uses the studios’ characters in promotional materials. When prompted, images can be generated for intellectual properties like Darth Vader, Minions, Superman, Guardians of the Galaxy, and more, all with the MiniMax watermark.

The AI program would only be able to do this if it were trained with other people’s intellectual property

“The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, including disgorgement of profits, and a court order barring MiniMax from continuing to exploit studios’ works.”

We’re going to be keeping an eye on this lawsuit, but in the meantime, make sure you continue to follow AllEars for more.

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