The news: Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) sued AI image generator Midjourney, accusing it of “mass theft” of copyrighted films and TV shows for training. The complaint cites prompts that yield near-identical renderings of Bugs Bunny, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Scooby-Doo, and Rick and Morty.

Disney and NBCUniversal launched similar claims, arguing Midjourney diverts consumers from licensed products while profiting through monthly subscriptions ranging from $10 to $120. The studios seek either Midjourney’s profits or statutory damages up to $150,000 per infringed work.

Why it matters: At the heart of the case is whether training on copyrighted content qualifies as “fair use.”

There are significant financial ramifications for all stakeholders —Anthropic recently settled claims that it illegally downloaded books—which raises the stakes.

The risk is top of mind for enterprises: 52% of IT professionals cite intellectual property infringement as a leading genAI concern, yet only 25% were actively working to mitigate against it, per EMARKETER.

Our take: The lawsuit underscores the collision of Hollywood IP with AI tools that have become mainstream.

More than half (53%) of marketers already use image generators like Midjourney for social media, and creators are quickly diversifying into AI-driven visuals and video. The gap between adoption and safeguards suggests legal clashes will multiply before regulatory clarity arrives.

This is our immediate perspective. We’re actively developing this story throughout the day with more research and data from the EMARKETER database. Our in-depth analysis will be included in our client-only Briefings. Non-clients can click here to get a demo of our full platform and coverage.

Check out other EMARKETER content related to this story:

• Moonvalley’s Marey makes AI video generation safer, more ethical for brands
• Disney and Universal sue Midjourney, push back on AI content use
• Internet Archive ruling could set precedent for AI copyright cases