Warner Bros. Discovery sues Midjourney over AI character images

Warner Bros. Discovery filed suit on Sept. 4 in federal court in Los Angeles, alleging that artificial intelligence image generator Midjourney has unlawfully enabled subscribers to create and distribute near identical images and videos of the studio's copyrighted characters without permission. The complaint, lodged in California federal court, accuses Midjourney of building a paid business by reproducing iconic characters such as Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, The Joker, Bugs Bunny, Tom and Jerry, Scooby Doo and Cartoon Network figures including Rick and Morty.

Warner Bros. Discovery said the service returns copyrighted characters even when prompts do not name specific intellectual property, and attached dozens of side by side comparisons between Midjourney outputs and stills from the studio's films and television shows as evidence. The filing points to examples it says are strikingly similar to screen and promotional images, including an image it alleges mirrors Christian Bale's Batman from The Dark Knight and a 3D animated Bugs Bunny resembling the character in Space Jam A New Legacy. The complaint also contends that Midjourney removed earlier safeguards that limited...