Midjourney demands transparency from Hollywood in copyright battle

The legal clash began last year when the studios alleged that Midjourney’s models were trained on their iconic characters, such as Darth Vader and Bart Simpson. While a judge previously limited discovery to consumer-facing AI output, Midjourney is now seeking to overturn that restriction. The company contends that it needs access to internal documentation to prove that the studios are using similar AI tools for storyboarding and creative ideation, which would suggest that training models on unlicensed content is an established industry practice.

Midjourney’s legal team argues that the studios are attempting to cherry-pick evidence to support their claims of market harm while withholding documents that could reveal their own reliance on AI behind closed doors. Beyond internal usage, the startup is also demanding that the studios produce a full log of all prompts and outputs generated on the platform, rather than just the specific instances cited in the lawsuit. Lead attorney for the studios, David Singer, has dismissed these requests as a "fishing expedition," maintaining that their objective is not to stifle technology but to prevent the unauthorized commercial exploitation of their film and television properties.