Disney and Universal Sue Midjourney Over AI Copyright Infringement: Legal and Security Implications

Disney and Universal Studios have filed a joint lawsuit against AI firm Midjourney, alleging its image generator unlawfully uses copyrighted characters like Mickey Mouse and Darth Vader. The lawsuit, filed in California federal court on June 11, 2025, seeks damages of $150,000 per infringed work, potentially exceeding $20 million. This marks the first major legal challenge by Hollywood against generative AI, raising questions about fair use and intellectual property in AI training datasets.

Legal and Technical Allegations

The studios accuse Midjourney of creating a “bottomless pit of plagiarism” by training its models on copyrighted material without authorization. Court documents cite over 150 infringed works, including iconic characters from franchises like Star Wars and Shrek. Midjourney, which reported $300 million in revenue in 2024, argues its outputs are transformative and protected under fair use. The case hinges on whether AI training constitutes copyright infringement under U.S. law, a debate intensified by similar lawsuits against OpenAI and Stability AI.

Security Implications for AI Systems

The lawsuit highlights emerging risks in AI content moderation. Midjourney currently filters outputs for nudity and violence but lacks robust copyright detection. This gap mirrors security challenges in web applications where input validation failures lead to exploitation. For instance, unregulated training data ingestion could expose AI systems to legal and reputational risks akin to unpatched vulnerabilities in enterprise software.

Key Metrics	Details
Potential Damages	$20M+ (150 works at $150K each)
Midjourney’s 2024 Revenue	$300M
User Base	21 million

“Piracy is piracy, whether done by an AI company or not.” — Disney’s legal team

Relevance to Security Professionals

The case underscores the need for compliance mechanisms in AI development. Security teams should audit training datasets with the same rigor as code repositories, implementing:

Automated copyright detection (similar to SAST tools)
Provenance tracking for training data
Legal review processes parallel to security compliance checks

This parallels secure coding practices where unvetted third-party libraries introduce legal and technical risks. The lawsuit may set precedents affecting how AI companies implement security controls around data sourcing.

Conclusion

The Disney-Universal lawsuit against Midjourney represents a watershed moment for AI and copyright law. Its outcome could redefine data usage policies across the tech industry, necessitating closer collaboration between legal and security teams. Organizations developing AI tools should proactively implement copyright compliance frameworks to mitigate litigation risks.