AI image-generation startup Midjourney is pushing to compel Disney, Universal, and Warner Bros. to disclose details of their internal AI usage as part of ongoing copyright litigation, according to a filing made in July 2026.
Disney and Universal sued Midjourney last year, alleging that its image-generation models could produce likenesses of copyrighted characters such as Bart Simpson and Darth Vader. Warner Bros. filed a separate suit against the company months later. Midjourney has argued that training its AI models on images of copyrighted characters is permitted under fair use.
The current dispute centers on what documents the studios must produce during discovery. A judge previously ruled that the studios would need to provide information about their generative AI usage, but only when it led to “consumer-facing” videos and images. Midjourney’s latest filing seeks to overturn that limitation.
The startup argues the restriction “unfairly” allows the studios to “cherry-pick only those documents they believe support their market harm claims while depriving Midjourney of documents that would support its defenses.” Midjourney contends the withheld documents “would reveal whether, behind closed doors, they are doing exactly what they are suing Midjourney for doing.”
Specifically, Midjourney suggests that if the studios are developing image-generating AI for internal purposes such as storyboarding, that could demonstrate it is “an industry custom, even among the studios themselves, to download and train AI on unlicensed copyrighted content.” The startup is also seeking all prompts the studios used within Midjourney and the resulting outputs, not only those tied to allegedly infringing images.
The studios’ lead attorney, David Singer, characterized Midjourney’s documentation requests as a “fishing expedition.” Singer stated the studios “do not seek to stop AI technology or even shut down Midjourney’s business,” but want Midjourney to stop reproducing their characters without authorization.
The outcome of the discovery dispute could shape what evidence each side is permitted to present, and may have broader implications for how courts weigh AI training practices against copyright claims in the entertainment industry.
Source: TechCrunch