Midjourney Thinks Hollywood Should Fess Up About Using AI

Midjourney is pressing Hollywood studios to disclose how they use generative AI as part of a lawsuit tied to the company’s learning model. A Midjourney lawyer filed a motion saying Disney, Universal, and Warner Bros. should be required to show what they have gained from a model similar in name, following a June ruling that limited Midjourney’s ability to obtain information about the studios’ genAI usage. The company is seeking details including training datasets and business plans, along with board presentations about generative AI broadly. Midjourney attorney Bobby Ghajar argued that evidence of plaintiffs allegedly doing similar conduct would support Midjourney’s defenses involving fair use and “unclean hands.” In response, David Singer, representing the three studios, said their intent is to make Midjourney stop copying movies and TV shows and stop creating derivative works featuring well-known characters without authorization. Disney is cited as the most transparent, including a late-2025 announcement of a $1 billion investment into OpenAI to bring “hundreds” of Disney characters to Sora, which later collapsed after SoraAI was shut down.