Disney and Universal Can't "Have It Both Ways" According to New Documents in Midjourney Lawsuit

If you’ve been following entertainment news, you may know that The Walt Disney Company and NBCUniversal have teamed up to take on AI company Midjourney in a lawsuit.

The lawsuit was filed in June, citing direct and secondary copyright infringement under the Copyright Act. But now, Midjourney has responded publicly, saying that the studios have no power to prevent AI training.

Variety reports that Midjourney has filed a response, which says that AI training is protected “fair use.” Midjourney also argued that the studios are trying to “have it both ways” by using AI tools themselves and also fighting against a major AI company.

“Copyright law does not confer absolute control over the use of copyrighted works,” Midjourney’s lawyers noted. “The limited monopoly granted by copyright must give way to fair use, which safeguards countervailing public interests in the free flow of ideas and information.”

Midjourney even shared that dozens of its users have email addresses associated with Disney and Universal, proving that employees of those companies use the service. “Plaintiffs cannot have it both ways, seeking to profit — through their use of Midjourney and other generative AI tools — from industry-standard AI training practices on the one hand, while on the other hand accusing Midjourney of wrongdoing for the same,” the filing states.

The lawsuit from Disney and Universal is heavily focused on the fact that users have been able to create images that are very similar to copyrighted works from those studios. In response, Midjourney notes that its users are required to abide by the terms of service, which state that users aren’t allowed to infringe on intellectual property rights.