Avery Carter, AGG Litigation and Intellectual Property attorney, published an article in Law360 discussing how the Disney Enterprises Inc. v. Midjourney Inc. case could define when, if ever, AI-generated images are considered fair use.
Avery discussed how the case has proceeded so far with Disney and Universal filing a lawsuit against AI tool Midjourney, Midjourney’s denial of allegations that they intentionally incorporate and copy famous Disney and Universal characters, and an additional lawsuit from Warner Bros. Entertainment along the same line of allegations.
The cases would determine whether Midjourney’s service directly infringes on copyright work and characters of the plaintiffs and whether fair use is viable and excuses copyright infringement. Avery provided an explanation of fair use, as well as examples of how the courts have previously handled cases in which fair use was argued.
“If the court determines the AI-generated images do not constitute fair use of the original copyrighted ones, it’s likely that there will be a litany of cases brought against AI platforms that engage in similar use of copyrighted images,” Avery said. “Depending on how the court rules, the decision by itself may be enough to dissuade platforms like Midjourney from continuing to offer these services.”
To read the full article, please click here.
- Avery E. Carter
Associate
