Entertainment giant Warner Bros. Discovery has filed a lawsuit against Midjourney, an AI visual creation platform, for copyright infringement. The company alleges that the platform profits from the unauthorized use of iconic characters such as Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Scooby-Doo, and Looney Tunes. Warner Bros. is seeking damages of up to $150,000 for each violation.

Warner Bros. Files Copyright Lawsuit Against Midjourney

Warner Bros. Discovery claims that Midjourney offers a commercial service with monthly subscription fees ranging from $10 to $120. The company alleges that this service is based on artificial intelligence models trained using its own copyrighted content without permission. The lawsuit argues that this commercial model directly violates its intellectual property rights.

Another noteworthy point in the lawsuit is the allegation that Midjourney’s technical measures restricting access to the characters were recently removed. Warner Bros. claims that the platform now messages users with “less blocked work,” and that this is being used as a lure to boost subscription sales.

The lawsuit shows images generated by Midjourney alongside scenes from Warner Bros. films. For example, it’s reported that the images generated by the command “Batman, a scene from The Dark Knight” directly resemble the film’s promotional materials. Furthermore, it’s noted that even more general phrases like “classic comic book superhero battle” yield results resembling Warner Bros. characters.

This isn’t the first major copyright lawsuit Midjourney has faced. Disney and Universal Studios previously sued the company in June, alleging similar claims. Those lawsuits also highlighted the unauthorized use of content from brands like Star Wars, Shrek, The Simpsons, and Despicable Me. These lawsuits once again highlight the conflict between AI technology and intellectual property rights.