Warner Bros. Discovery sued Midjourney alleging its AI service generated infringing images of Batman, Joker and other characters
Warner Bros. Discovery filed a lawsuit against Midjourney in a U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, alleging its AI subscription service lets users generate infringing images and videos of copyrighted characters such as Superman, Batman and The Joker. The suit claims Midjourney was developed using illegal copies of Warner Bros. Discovery's works and did nothing to stop users creating such content. Disney and NBCUniversal filed a similar lawsuit against Midjourney earlier, to which Midjourney responded that training on copyrighted works was fair use.
What the AI did
Midjourney's AI subscription service is alleged to generate images and videos of copyrighted characters such as Superman, Batman and The Joker when users ask for them. The suit also alleges the AI was built using illegal copies of Warner Bros. Discovery's works.
First reported October 1, 2026 · Added to the register October 8, 2026 · 1 source
- Developer
- Midjourney
- Affected
- Warner Bros. Discovery
- Country
- United States
- When it happened
- Not stated in the sources
- First reported
- October 1, 2026
What this means for you
Could this affect you?
Rights holders whose characters can be reproduced by AI image and video services, and businesses that use or offer such services commercially, could face the same alleged copyright problems.
What to check
- Review the generative AI tools you use for safeguards against producing copyrighted characters.
- Check vendor terms on where the AI's training data came from.
- Check vendor terms for indemnities, meaning promises to cover your legal costs, before using AI-generated imagery commercially.
Areas of your AI programme this touches
Every fact and its source (4)
- Lawsuit filedSeptember 4“was filed on September 4 in a U.S. District Court in Los Angeles”[1]
- Characters citedSuperman, Wonder Woman, Scooby-Doo, The Joker, Batman“copyright-protected characters like Superman, Wonder Woman, and Scooby-Doo”[1]
- Prior related lawsuitDisney and NBCUniversal sued Midjourney earlier“Disney and NBCUniversal teamed up to file a massive lawsuit against the AI company”[1]
- Midjourney's defence in Disney caseClaimed training on copyrighted works was fair use“Midjourney pushed back and claimed training its AI on copyrighted works was”[1]
Sources
- Warner Bros. Sues Midjourney Over Turning Batman, Joker, And More Into AI Slophuewire.com · October 1, 2026
How this record is classified. Severity N: a legal action or test finding, not a harm. Evidence: Alleged, meaning one party's claim.
The facts in At a glance and in Every fact and its source are quoted from the sources listed. The summary, What the AI did and What this means for you are written from those sources and checked against them automatically before publication. Records reflect what has been disclosed, not everything that has happened. Incidents are found through news feeds and the GDELT Project.
