Disney’s lawsuit against Midjourney, an AI image generator, on June 11 was hailed by creatives as a welcome development — if long overdue.
The Writers Guild of America, which went on strike partly over AI two years ago, congratulated Disney and Universal, which joined the suit, for coming “off of the sidelines.” Others were similarly effusive.
“Wonderful news,” says Matthew Butterick, an attorney who sued Midjourney on behalf of independent artists in January 2023. “I love to see Hollywood getting engaged in what I think is the most important intellectual property issue of our generation.”
The lawsuit marks the first time major studios have sought to enforce their copyrights against an AI company. But the suit takes on one small company — Midjourney has 11 employees — for relatively egregious violations.
“It just seems like the lowest hanging fruit and the easiest way to make a point,” says one exec at a rival company.
