Midjourney has filed a motion asking Judge Kronstadt to overturn a magistrate’s decision that limited discovery to consumer-facing AI, aiming for broader access to internal training data and business plans of major studios like Disney, Universal, and Warner Bros. Midjourney argues that if these studios are training their own AI models on unlicensed copyrighted data for internal use, it would demonstrate an industry standard that could strengthen their fair use defense. The case raises concerns about the disparity in how studios can utilize such data internally while suing commercial AI tools for doing the same publicly, highlighting the legal complexities surrounding fair use and the current lack of a coherent framework for generative AI practices.

Disney: Disney is a leading entertainment and media conglomerate that produces films, television, and related content. It is one of the plaintiffs suing Midjourney over alleged copyright infringement involving AI-generated depictions of its characters.
Universal: Universal is a major film studio and entertainment company under Comcast that creates and distributes movies and TV shows. It is participating as a plaintiff in the lawsuit against Midjourney, seeking to protect its intellectual property from unauthorized AI use.
Midjourney: Midjourney is an AI company focused on developing text-to-image generation models. In the current news, it is pursuing expanded discovery in its ongoing copyright lawsuit against major Hollywood studios by arguing that internal studio AI training practices on unlicensed data would support its fair use defense.
Warner Bros: Warner Bros is a prominent film and television studio under Warner Bros. Discovery that develops and owns extensive media franchises. It is a plaintiff in the Midjourney case, claiming infringement of its copyrighted characters through AI models.
Koltregaskes: Koltregaskes is an X user and commentator who analyzed the Midjourney legal filings. The user highlighted the potential hypocrisy of studios training internal AI models on unlicensed data while suing Midjourney, advocating for discovery to expose industry practices.

`json
{
“Discovery Scope”: “Midjourney is contesting a magistrate’s limitation on discovery to only consumer-facing AI, seeking wider access to studios’ internal AI training practices and materials.”,
“Licensing Models”: “In the music industry, new licensing models propose content licensing and revenue sharing with rights holders as a potential framework for generative AI use across various sectors.”,
“Fair Use Argument”: “The case questions if evidence of studios conducting unlicensed AI training for internal purposes would bolster Midjourney’s fair use defense by demonstrating industry-wide practices.”
}
`