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Warner Bros. Discovery Sues Midjourney For Using Copyrighted Characters
- Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
- Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager
Warner Bros. Discovery sued the company Midjourney on Thursday, claiming that the AI startup has been using copyrighted characters in its image-generation system, including its “most popular and valuable fictional characters” such as Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Scooby-Doo, and Bugs Bunny.
In a rush? Here are the quick facts:
- Warner Bros. Discovery sued the company Midjourney on Thursday over the use of its popular copyrighted characters.
- The lawsuit presents evidence showing how Midjourney’s AI system generates images and videos of its characters.
- Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Scooby-Doo, Bugs Bunny, Tweety, The Powerpuff Girls, and Rick and Morty are among the characters mentioned in the complaint.
According to The Verge , Warner Bros. Discovery included several examples of how Midjourney has been reproducing “unauthorized derivatives,” downloadable videos and images, and distributing them to users without permission.
“Only Warner Bros. Discovery has the right under U.S. Copyright law to build a business around reproducing, preparing derivative works, distributing, publicly displaying, and performing images and videos featuring its copyrighted characters,” states the lawsuit. “Midjourney thinks it is above the law.”
Throughout the formal complaint, Warner Bros. Discovery presents evidence showing how Midjourney’s AI system generates its characters—such as Scooby Doo, Batman, Wonder Woman, Tweety, Superman, Batman, Rick and Morty, and The Powerpuff Girls—through prompts in different scenarios, even when the user has not explicitly requested the copyrighted character.
“Without any consent or authorization by Warner Bros. Discovery, Midjourney brazenly dispenses Warner Bros. Discovery’s intellectual property as if it were its own,” states the complaint. “Midjourney could easily stop its theft and exploitation of Warner Bros. Discovery’s intellectual property.”
Warner Bros. Discovery is suing for damages and requested the court to stop Midjourney from generating, copying, and distributing its copyrighted content.
Midjourney—which recently partnered with Meta on video and image generation technology—has also been sued by Disney and Universal under similar claims earlier this year.
Artists and creative companies have long complained about the use of their work to train AI models. However, this year, multiple judges have sided with tech companies in copyright cases. In June, a San Francisco judge ruled in favor of Anthropic in a case over the use of purchased and pirated copyrighted books, while another judge ruled in favor of Meta in a case brought by 13 authors who claimed the company used their books to train its AI model.
Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash
OpenAI To Launch AI-Powered Jobs Platform To Compete With LinkedIn
- Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
- Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager
OpenAI announced on Thursday that it will launch a new platform designed to connect workers and companies: the OpenAI Jobs Platform. The AI startup will also introduce a certification program, OpenAI Certifications, to train users in AI skills.
In a rush? Here are the quick facts:
- OpenAI will launch a new AI-powered platform to connect talents with companies.
- The startup will also introduce a certification program as part of its AI literacy commitment.
- The new OpenAI Jobs Platform is expected to compete with LinkedIn.
According to its official announcement , the new platform is being developed in response to the disruption AI technology has created in the job market, and as a solution to the new roles and opportunities it will also generate.
“The OpenAI Jobs Platform will have knowledgeable, experienced candidates at every level, and opportunities for anyone looking to put their skills to use,” wrote Fidji Simo, the new CEO of Applications at OpenAI. “And we’ll use AI to help find the perfect matches between what companies need and what workers can offer.”
For the Jobs Platform, OpenAI is partnering with companies such as Walmart, Accenture, John Deere, Indeed, and Boston Consulting Group, along with community organizations and government institutions in the United States.
The new platform will connect AI-fluent candidates with job opportunities and help companies in their talent search, aligning with their goals and needs.
The Certifications program has been designed to help professionals learn and demonstrate their AI skills. OpenAI emphasized its efforts in AI literacy, including the recently released ChatGPT feature Study Mode , and the Academy initiative launched in July .
“Now we’re going to expand the Academy by offering certifications for different levels of AI fluency, from the basics of using AI at work all the way up to AI-custom jobs and prompt engineering,” wrote Simo. “We’ll obviously use AI to teach AI: anyone will be able to prepare for the certification in ChatGPT’s Study mode and become certified without leaving the app.”
Simo added that OpenAI is committing to certify 10 million U.S. citizens by 2030 through its partnerships with other companies, such as Walmart. The CEO didn’t provide more information regarding the details or the date for the launch of the new Jobs Platform.
According to TechCrunch , a spokesperson from OpenAI said the new Jobs Platform will be released by mid-2026. The new platform could compete with LinkedIn, co-founded by one of OpenAI’s early investors, Reid Hoffman, and owned by Microsoft, the AI startup’s largest financial backer.
OpenAI and Microsoft’s alliance has allegedly been going through difficulties. A few months ago, anonymous sources said both companies met to readjust their multi-billion-dollar partnership .
