Earlier this month, Walt Disney Pictures became one of the first major studios to launch a lawsuit against a leading AI company. Disney and Comcast are both going after Midjourney in court over alleged misappropriation of the studios’ respective copyrighted materials. However, there’s now a report that Disney is negotiating a potential partnership with OpenAI.
As reported by Bloomberg, Disney “isn’t interested in licensing its full library to anyone,” but it is following in the footsteps of YouTube, The Atlantic, and Vox Media regarding a possible deal with OpenAI. The report also notes that Disney approached the other major studios and streamers about joining the lawsuit against Midjourney, which is a considerably smaller company than OpenAI. But Comcast was reportedly the only studio to accept the offer because the others had “different priorities.” Regardless, Disney has hinted that the Midjourney case may be just the beginning for the company’s legal fight over AI.
“[The lawsuit] is part of a campaign to protect our intellectual property rights in the world of generative AI,” explained Disney lawyer Horacio Gutierrez while speaking with Bloomberg. “This is our first case, but it likely won’t be the last.”
Disney hasn’t been entirely opposed to AI in the recent past. The studio recently lent out an AI-powered Darth Vader to Fortnite that recreated the voice of the late actor James Earl Jones. AI remains one of the prevailing topics in the world of gaming as well. Frontier Development recently faced a backlash over generative AI in Jurassic World Evolution 3, which led the company to reverse course and remove it from the game. Meanwhile, Nintendo veteran Masahiro Sakurai suggested that AAA video game development is becoming unsustainable, and predicts that AI may be able to help companies work more efficiently.
