{"id":3453,"date":"2026-07-02T21:40:53","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T21:40:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3453"},"modified":"2026-07-02T21:40:53","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T21:40:53","slug":"midjourney-seeks-to-reveal-studios-use-of-ai-in-high-stakes-copyright-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3453","title":{"rendered":"Midjourney Seeks to Reveal Studios\u2019 Use of AI in High-Stakes Copyright Battle"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nMidjourney is trying to force Disney, Universal and Warner Bros. to reveal how they use artificial intelligence as it defends itself from a potentially ruinous copyright lawsuit.<\/p>\n

Read more Anne Hathaway Quit \u2018Knocked Up\u2019 Over Graphic Birthing Scene, Says Seth Rogen: \u2018She Felt That It Was Not Her Brand\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tThe studios sued the AI image lab last year, accusing it of enabling massive infringement of their copyrighted characters. Midjourney has claimed \u201cfair use\u201d and has argued that the studios are engaged in the very same AI practices.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn June, a magistrate judge limited Midjourney\u2019s ability to obtain discovery from the studios about their AI use, saying the studios would have to turn over information only about \u201cconsumer-facing\u201d AI applications.<\/p>\n

\n\tMidjourney\u2019s lawyers filed a motion this week urging Judge John Kronstadt to overturn that decision, arguing that the studios should have to divulge more much about how AI is used behind the scenes.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIf Plaintiffs are doing the very thing they seek to punish, that evidence goes to the heart of Midjourney\u2019s fair use and unclean hands defenses,\u201d wrote Midjourney\u2019s attorney, Bobby Ghajar.<\/p>\n

\n\tMidjourney wants the three studios to reveal its AI business plans, research reports, training datasets, model weights, and other data that would show how they use AI tools to create and market movies and TV shows. The company has also sought the studios\u2019 board meeting presentations about AI.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Young Washington\u2019\u00a0Director Jon Erwin Breaks Down Film\u2019s Use of AI: Tech Made Production \u2018Safer and More Affordable\u2019 (EXCLUSIVE)<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tThe studios agreed to turn over information only about consumer-facing AI applications \u2014 but not about any internal AI tools.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a ruling on June 15, the magistrate judge, Joel Richlin, denied Midjourney\u2019s attempt to obtain broad information about the studios\u2019 AI use, finding it irrelevant to the question of whether Midjourney infringed on the studios\u2019 copyrights. <\/p>\n

\n\tMidjourney\u2019s argues that it should also be allowed to dig deeper.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIf Plaintiffs are developing image-generating AI models \u2014 trained on unlicensed, third-party copyrighted data \u2014 for internal use in storyboarding or ideating content for film or TV, that evidence would equally demonstrate that it is an industry custom, even among the studios themselves, to download and train AI on unlicensed copyrighted content,\u201d Ghajar wrote.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe studios\u2019 lead attorney, David Singer, has previously argued that Midjourney is seeking to go on a \u201cfishing expedition\u201d to distract from its own misconduct.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cPlaintiffs do not seek to stop AI technology or even shut down Midjourney\u2019s business,\u201d Singer wrote in opposing Midjourney\u2019s initial discovery motion. \u201cPlaintiffs simply want Midjourney to stop copying their movies and TV shows and to stop distributing, publicly displaying, publicly performing, and creating derivative works that include copies of Plaintiffs\u2019 famous characters without authorization\u2014the same rights any copyright holder would assert against any infringer, AI-powered or otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Rhythm Heaven Groove\u2019 Is Back After a Decade to Test Your Reflexes With Over 100 Games<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Midjourney is appealing a magistrate judge’s order limiting its ability to reveal how studios are using artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1836,2847,2848,2709],"class_list":["post-3453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-disney-4","tag-midjourney","tag-universal","tag-warner-bros"],"yoast_head":"\nMidjourney Seeks to Reveal Studios\u2019 Use of AI in High-Stakes Copyright Battle - Relocation Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3453\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Midjourney Seeks to Reveal Studios\u2019 Use of AI in High-Stakes Copyright Battle - 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