Active Last verified: Apr 25, 2026

Disney Enterprises Inc. v. Midjourney Inc.

Disney Enterprises Inc., along with Universal, Marvel, DreamWorks, Twentieth Century Fox, and Lucasfilm, sued Midjourney alleging that the AI image generation service unlawfully downloaded and used their copyrighted works to train its models, enabling it to generate high-quality replicas of their characters such as Minions from Despicable Me without authorization. The plaintiffs assert direct and secondary copyright infringement under the Copyright Act based on Midjourney's unlicensed use of copyrighted works for training its image service. This case marked the first major lawsuit by Hollywood studios against an AI company for copyright infringement, with significant implications for how courts will balance AI development against intellectual property protections in the entertainment indus

🏛️ CDCA· Case No. 2:25-cv-05275· Filed Jun 11, 2025

Summary

Disney Enterprises Inc., along with Universal, Marvel, DreamWorks, Twentieth Century Fox, and Lucasfilm, sued Midjourney alleging that the AI image generation service unlawfully downloaded and used their copyrighted works to train its models, enabling it to generate high-quality replicas of their characters such as Minions from Despicable Me without authorization. The plaintiffs assert direct and secondary copyright infringement under the Copyright Act based on Midjourney's unlicensed use of copyrighted works for training its image service. This case marked the first major lawsuit by Hollywood studios against an AI company for copyright infringement, with significant implications for how courts will balance AI development against intellectual property protections in the entertainment indus

Case details

Court
CDCA
Docket number
2:25-cv-05275
Filed
Jun 11, 2025
Status
Active

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