The Core Allegation: "Mass Theft" and Corporate Defiance

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has filed a high-stakes copyright infringement lawsuit against the San Francisco-based AI company Midjourney in California federal court. The complaint levies a severe accusation: that Midjourney's entire business model is built on the "mass theft of content."

WBD asserts that Midjourney "thinks it is above the law," knowingly pirating the studio's vast library of films, television series, and comics to train its AI models without permission or compensation. A spokesperson for WBD stated, "The heart of what we do is develop stories and characters... Midjourney is blatantly and purposefully infringing copyrighted works, and we filed this suit to protect our content, our partners, and our investments."

The "Virtual Vending Machine" Theory

The lawsuit attempts to dismantle the defence that AI generation is a creative process. Instead, WBD characterises Midjourney as a "virtual vending machine" that simply regurgitates the copyrighted data it was fed. According to the studio, the AI tool does not create new work but merely dispenses "endless copies and derivatives" of WBD’s protected intellectual property.

Evidence of Willful Infringement

WBD’s complaint provides detailed evidence to support its claims of "brazen" and willful misconduct:

• The "Set on Fire" Admission: The lawsuit cites a 2022 interview with Midjourney founder David Holz, who reportedly described the company’s data collection strategy as: "grab everything they can, they dump it in a huge file, and they kind of set it on fire to train some huge thing." WBD argues this proves reckless disregard for legal rights.

• Removal of Safeguards: WBD alleges that Midjourney previously had blocks in place to prevent the generation of infringing content but "brazenly" lifted these protections, marketing the increased ability to mimic copyrighted styles as a product "improvement."
  

The Copyrighted Catalogue at Risk

The lawsuit highlights the sheer breadth of the intellectual property being exploited. Midjourney is accused of generating photorealistic and highly accurate unauthorised images of:

• DC Universe Icons: Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and The Joker.

• Animation Classics: Bugs Bunny (Looney Tunes), Scooby-Doo, and Tom and Jerry.

• Modern Hits: Characters from Rick and Morty and the wider Cartoon Network portfolio.

• Cinematic Scenes: The studio submitted evidence showing the AI replicating specific screencaps from the blockbuster film The Dark Knight.

Crucially, WBD argues that infringement occurs even without using specific character names; generic prompts such as "classic comic book superhero battle" reportedly yield images that unmistakably depict WBD’s copyrighted heroes, proving the model's foundational reliance on their IP.

Financial Stakes and Damages

Warner Bros. Discovery is seeking maximum statutory damages of $150,000 per infringed work or a disgorgement of Midjourney’s profits. With a library containing thousands of characters and titles, the potential liability runs into the billions. The suit argues that Midjourney unjustly enriches itself by charging users subscription fees ranging from $10 to $120 per month to access this stolen content.

Conclusion

This lawsuit represents a critical escalation in the industry-wide war between Hollywood and Silicon Valley. Warner Bros. Discovery joins Disney and NBCUniversal, who filed a similar suit in June, branding Midjourney a "bottomless pit of plagiarism" in a unified front. The outcome of this case will likely define whether AI models can legally ingest copyrighted culture to create competing commercial products.