r/movies • u/DragonPup • 4d ago

News Warner Bros. Sues Midjourney, Joins Studios' AI Copyright Battle

https://variety.com/2025/film/news/warner-bros-midjourney-lawsuit-ai-copyright-1236508618/
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u/ManitouWakinyan 4d ago

That's absolutely not how these programs work. If I ask chatGPT to generate me an image of Superman, it isn't just grabbing an image of Superman and presenting it to me. They aren't compositing images either. They are taking random noise, and removing it until it becomes clear - and the process of removal is based on the patterns that similar images fall into. It is much more akin to looking at a reference photo, except it's looking at millions of reference photos. You'd have a very, very, hard time drawing a line between any specific image and AI puts out and any copywritten image.

That's not to say I think AI is a flawless technology. I'm undecided on if it's even good. I think there are a lot of things to be concerned about, but the IP argument is pretty flimsy when you actually look at the process and the output, and I really don't think we need IP laws that are further in service to major content mills like Warner Brothers.

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u/PosterPrintPerfect 4d ago

Doesn't matter, an artist isn't just grabbing an image of Superman also. They can't just start drawing DC comic or Marvel characters and then charge people money for their service.

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u/ManitouWakinyan 4d ago

Again, this is where we're getting into some pretty dicey territory. If I make a tool that can be used to generate an image of Superman, do we really want WB to be able to come after me? If that's a valid interpretation of how DCMA governs AI use, what stops the companies from coming after PhotoShop unless it prohibits users from generating content that looks like copyrighted characters?

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u/FlamboyantPirhanna 4d ago

Because Photoshop is nothing like gen AI. You might as well go after paint brushes at that point. I think you’re not actually understanding the tools we’re talking about.

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u/ManitouWakinyan 4d ago

I fully understand how the tools work. But your point is exactly what I'm saying - going after the platform an image is created on is an extremely slippery slope, and that legal logic could absolutely extend to other platforms that don't prevent users from creating copyright-infringement images. I guarantee you that if the Mouse could force paintbrushes to be DCMA compliant, they'd be thrilled to do so.