Warner Bros Discovery sues Midjourney for copyright infringement
Warner Bros. Discovery alleges that Midjourney used its copyrighted characters without authorization to train an AI image and video generation service that allows users to create images of Batman, Superman, and other studio properties. The company claims Midjourney intentionally removed protections against such infringement and continues the practice despite knowing its scope.
What happened
Warner Bros. Discovery filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles federal court on September 4, 2025, accusing Midjourney of using its copyrighted characters without authorization to train its image and video generation service.
The complaint alleges that Midjourney enabled users to generate high-quality, downloadable images of characters including Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Bugs Bunny, Scooby-Doo and others in "every imaginable scene."
Warner Bros. stated that Midjourney previously blocked subscribers from generating videos from infringing images, but lifted that protection in the previous month while promoting the change as an "improvement."
Reported impact
The suit alleges that Midjourney's conduct was "calculated and profit-driven" and that the company "made a calculated decision to offer zero protection for copyright owners even though Midjourney knows about the breathtaking scope of its piracy and copyright infringement."
Index analysis
Midjourney, launched in 2022 and led by founder David Holz, had nearly 21 million users as of September 2024 and estimated $300 million in revenue in 2024, according to the complaint.
In its August 6 filing in a similar case brought by Disney and Universal, Midjourney argued that copyright law "does not confer absolute control" over use of copyrighted works and that using copyrighted works to train generative AI models amounts to fair use.
Governance controls
Midjourney previously implemented technical controls to block subscribers from generating videos from certain infringing images.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.