Midjourney Wants Studios That Sued It to Show the Court How They Use AI

Mon, 06 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

AI image generator Midjourney is asking a federal court to force Warner Bros. Discovery, Disney, and Universal Studios to disclose internal details about how they use artificial intelligence — arguing that the very companies suing it for copyright infringement are likely engaged in the same training practices themselves.

The move represents a significant escalation in one of the most closely watched legal battles between the AI industry and Hollywood, with implications that could set precedent for future copyright disputes involving generative AI.

The Copyright Fight

Last year, the three major studios filed a lawsuit against Midjourney, accusing the AI image generator of copyright infringement. Their central claim: that Midjourney can generate images of copyrighted characters like Superman and Batman by training its models on protected material without permission.

Midjourney has pushed back, arguing that training AI models on publicly available images constitutes fair use under copyright law. Now, the company is taking the fight further by demanding the studios open their own AI playbooks.

What Midjourney Is Asking For

According to a report from Variety, Midjourney is seeking access to the studios’ AI business plans, research reports, training datasets, model weights, and even boardroom presentations about artificial intelligence. The company believes this evidence could prove that the studios themselves are training AI models on copyrighted works — the very practice they are trying to punish.

The request hit a roadblock in mid-June, when a magistrate judge ruled that the studios could withhold most of their AI-related information and only needed to hand over materials concerning “consumer-facing” AI applications. Midjourney is now asking the federal court to overturn that order.

“The Very Thing They Seek to Punish”

In its filing to the court, Midjourney argued that evidence of the studios’ own AI training practices is directly relevant to its fair use defense. As litigation publication Mealey’s reported, Midjourney attorney Bobby Ghajar wrote:

“If Plaintiffs are doing the very thing they seek to punish, that evidence goes to the heart of Midjourney’s fair use and unclean hands defenses.”

The “unclean hands” legal doctrine argues that a party seeking relief from the court must not have engaged in the same wrongful conduct themselves. If Midjourney can show the studios are training AI models on copyrighted content, it could significantly weaken their case.

Broader Implications

The outcome of this dispute could have far-reaching consequences for the AI and entertainment industries. The federal judge’s decision on what information must be disclosed could set a precedent for future AI copyright lawsuits, determining how much transparency courts can demand from companies on both sides of the table.

With generative AI continuing to reshape creative industries, the tension between AI developers and content owners is unlikely to ease anytime soon. This case may ultimately help define the boundaries of fair use in the age of AI — and whether the companies accusing others of infringement are willing to open their own books to scrutiny.

As the legal process unfolds, all eyes will be on the federal court’s response to Midjourney’s request, which could either narrow or expand the scope of discovery in AI copyright cases for years to come.

Midjourney on Know the Tech

Midjourney Wants Studios That Sued It to Show the Court How They Use AI

The Copyright Fight

What Midjourney Is Asking For

“The Very Thing They Seek to Punish”

Broader Implications