Hollywood Finally Enters The AI Copyright Fight!
Last Week I Asked For It: Now Disney & NBCUniversal Are Doing It (vs. Midjourney)
Ready for your weekly “brAIn” dump? Here we go! First, it’s the “mAIn event” — my analysis of last week’s earthquake in the worlds of media and AI — i.e., Hollywood studios finally dropped their AI silent movie act for “talkies” in the courts, as Disney and NBCUniversal entered the litigation ring to sue generative AI image maker Midjourney. Just two days earlier, in these pages, I had called for Hollywood to finally join the fight against AI’s rampant copyright theft. Now they have. Coincidence? I think not! Next, it’s this week’s video — a young filmmaker’s perspective of GenAI’s impact on his Art, his generation (it’s a fascinating, sobering, and important discussion — and not just because the thoughtful young man happens to be my son). Then, it’s the “cocktAIl” — my special mixology of key AI/media stories and networking events. Finally, the “AI Litigation Tracker” — updates on key GenAI-media IP infringement cases by Partner Avery Williams of #1 IP litigation firm McKool Smith (access the “Tracker” here via this link).
But First …
Listen to a podcast discussion of my feature story last week, “Time For Hollywood’s ‘Fair Use’ AI Knockout Punch!” (I generated it with Google NotebookLM). It lays out all the key issues relevant to Disney’s and NBCUniversal’s epic new copyright battle vs. Midjourney. I think you’ll get a lot out of it (and personally approve its content).
I. The mAIn Event - Of Mice & Monsters: Disney’s Mickey & NBCUniversal’s Frankenstein Sue Midjourney For Scary, Unlicensed Acts
What a difference a week makes. In these pages last Monday, I called on the major Hollywood studios to finally shed their complacency, get off the couch, and grab their bullhorns and boxing gloves to fight the widespread unlicensed taking of their copyrighted works by AI developers. And then, just days later, Disney and NBCUniversal did just that, suing generative AI company Midjourney for copyright infringement both on the “input” training side — and on the “output”/display side. On that second front, prompts using Midjourney do, in fact, generate replicas of beloved Disney and Universal Studios characters.
In the words of leading IP and AI litigator Chad Hummel of McKool Smith (who represents rights-holders), Hollywood’s first-of-its-kind AI copyright infringement case filing was “an extremely significant development.”
And here’s the kicker. Although Midjourney is a generative image AI company, the studios’ lawsuit’s central logic (and issues that it raises) apply to all forms of generative content — that means video and voice too.
Now standing in the litigation ring for the first time, these newly-inspired big media heavyweights wasted no time to land their first blows — calling out Midjourney for its outright “theft.” Kim Harris, executive vice president and general of counsel of NBCU, said this in a statement: “Theft is theft regardless of the technology used, and this action involves blatant infringement of our copyrights.” Meanwhile, Disney general counsel Horacio Guiterrez made no bones about where the Mouse House now stands, calling Midjourney “a bottomless pit of plagiarism.”
Oh snap! How do you really feel?
At the same time, Disney underscored what I always say — i.e., that its epic battle is not about Hollywood trying to stop AI progress. Far from it. It’s about copyright infringement, plain and simple. In the words of Disney’s Gutierrez:
“We are bullish on the promise of AI technology and optimistic about how it can be used responsibly as a tool to further human creativity … but piracy is piracy, and the fact that it’s done by an AI company does not make it any less infringing.”
Here’s the thing. There’s a right way and wrong way to do generative AI. The right way is what Amazon just did with The New York Times — license The Times’ bespoke high quality content that is the product of massive investment by the venerable media institution. And then there’s the wrong way — what Midjourney did here — take, take, take the content it needs without consent and compensation to those that created it with their blood, sweat, and endless tears.
But who’s crying now?
I’ve long predicted that the highest court in the land — those 9 robed ones in D.C. — would ultimately reject Big Tech’s omnipresent and predictable “fair use” defense if a case ever makes it that far (read my detailed analysis of how I reach that conclusion).
But until then, Hollywood’s gloves are most definitely off. We now have the world’s most IP-protective and well-resourced traditional media companies about to trade blows with a smaller, less righteous foe (Midjourney) — in an epic battle to define the basic rules (and economics) of the GenAI game. Those rules will impact the media, entertainment and AI/tech worlds — not to mention the entire creative community and the Arts themselves — from this point forward.
Disney and NBCUniversal finally realized that passivity holds no place right now for IP rights-holders. It’s lights, camera, ACTION! Otherwise, Hollywood will be swallowed up Silicon Valley’s relentless quest to move fast … and break things.
Apparently, Warner Brothers Discovery, Paramount, and Sony haven’t received that memo. At least not yet …
What do you think? Share your thoughts and feedback with me at peter@creativemedia.biz.
II. Video of the Week: A Young Filmmaker’s Perspective of Generative AI (& Its Impact on His Generation, His Art & Art Itself)
AI philosopher king Michael Ashley — yes, some kings still exist! (check out his great “The AI Philosopher” Substack here) — interviews recent NYU Tisch filmmaking graduate Luca Csathy (check out his creative portfolio here) about GenAI’s pervasive usage in college — and how he expects AI to impact the Arts and life itself (including his own). It’s a fascinating, thoughtful and frequently sobering conversation — important perspective of a generation very different than mine. Watch/Listen below.
[NOTE: check out Luca Csathy’s creative portfolio (films, photos, GenAI graphics, designs) at lucacsathy.com. Hint: he’s actively looking for his first gig after NYU, and he’d be an incredible asset to any company (said with pride by the author)].
III. The cocktAIl — My AI/Media Mixology
(1) Remember Music Producer Timbaland?
Well, now he’s said to be creating an entirely new AI genre of music called “A-Pop.” Clever? Or simply trying to hard? You be the judge. Oh yes, there’s this; he’s doing it with Silicon Valley-backed generative music company Suno — which has been sued by all major labels for massive copyright infringement (with reports now that Suno is seeking licenses that will save it from litigation devastation). Read about it all here (and in the “AI Litigation Tracker” in Section IV below).
(2) Westside Digital Mix: Great LA Networking Events
Check out Westside Digital Mix. This group of media/tech experts host an ongoing series of great LA-based media, entertainment, AI/tech networking events. Its newsletter is also a helpful resource for all major media/tech events in the LA area. Check it out here.
IV. AI Litigation Tracker: Updates on Key Generative AI/Media Cases (by McKool Smith)
Partner Avery Williams and the team at McKool Smith (named “Plaintiff IP Firm of the Year” by The National Law Journal) lay out the facts of — and latest critical developments in — the key GenAI-focused IP litigations below. All those detailed updates can be accessed via this link to the “AI Litigation Tracker”. McKool is a leader in both copyright and patent-related AI litigation — and entertainment, media, AI and tech matters in general.
(1) Reddit v. Anthropic
(2) Kadrey v. Meta
(3) The New York Times v. Microsoft & OpenAI
(4) Ziff-Davis v. OpenAI
(5) Thomson Reuters v. Ross Intelligence
(6) In re OpenAI Litigation (class action)
(7) Dow Jones, et al. v. Perplexity AI
(8) UMG Recordings v. Suno
(9) UMG Recordings v. Uncharted Labs (d/b/a Udio)
(10) Getty Images v. Stability AI and Midjourney
(11) Universal Music Group, et al. v. Anthropic
(12) Sarah Anderson v. Stability AI
(13) Raw Story Media v. OpenAI
(14) The Center for Investigative Reporting v. OpenAI
(15) Authors Guild et al. v. OpenAI
NOTE: Go to the “AI Litigation Tracker” tab on “the brAIn” website for the full discussions and analyses of these and other key GenAI/media cases. And reach out to me at peter@creativemedia.biz if you’d like me to connect you to McKool Smith to discuss these and other legal and litigation issues. Happy to make the introduction.
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