Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, NBCU Sue Chinese AI Company MiniMax, Alleging It ‘Pirates and Plunders’ Studios’ Copyrighted Works on ‘Massive Scale’

Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and NBCUniversal are taking legal aim at another AI company that they allege is massively ripping off their intellectual property.

On Tuesday, the three media companies filed a lawsuit against MiniMax, a Chinese AI company that is reportedly valued at $4 billion, alleging “willful and brazen” copyright infringement. According to the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, MiniMax disregards U.S. copyright law by treating the studios’ copyrighted characters as if those were its own.

“MiniMax operates Hailuo AI, a Chinese artificial intelligence image and video generating service that pirates and plunders Plaintiffs’ copyrighted works on a massive scale,” the companies said in the lawsuit, filed Tuesday. “MiniMax markets Hailuo AI as a ‘Hollywood studio in your pocket’ — an audacious self-anointed nickname given that MiniMax built its business from intellectual property stolen from Hollywood studios like Plaintiffs.”

The lawsuit continued, “The Hailuo service offers its subscribers an endless supply of infringing images and videos featuring Plaintiffs’ famous copyrighted characters. MiniMax completely disregards U.S. copyright law and treats Plaintiffs’ valuable copyrighted characters like its own.”

Disney, NBCU and WBD have also sued AI startup Midjourney, also alleging copyright infringement.

Disney, NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery said in a joint statement, “We support innovation that enhances human creativity while protecting the contributions of countless creators and the entire creative industry. A responsible approach to AI innovation is critical, and today’s lawsuit against MiniMax again demonstrates our shared commitment to holding accountable those who violate copyright laws, wherever they may be based.”

The studios provided multiple examples of MiniMax’s alleged infringement, along with images. For example, “If a MiniMax subscriber submits a simple text prompt requesting the character Darth Vader in a particular setting or doing a particular action, MiniMax generates and displays high quality, downloadable images and videos featuring Disney’s copyrighted Darth Vader (along with MiniMax Hailuo branding no less).” A Darth Vader image produced by MiniMax’s system is depicted above.

A copy of the lawsuit is available at this link. MiniMax did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In their lawsuit against MiniMax, which is based in Shanghai, China, the studios alleged the company failed to act on their cease-and-desist requests to avoid copyright infringement. “MiniMax, which has attracted millions of subscribers and is now reportedly worth $4 billion, blatantly continues to infringe Plaintiffs’ copyrights in favor of its own bottom line,” the complaint said.

The media companies alleged in the lawsuit that “MiniMax could easily stop its theft and exploitation of Plaintiffs’ intellectual property” and said other AI image- and video-generating services have instituted copyright protection measures. “MiniMax already has in place technological measures to prevent its distribution and public display and performance of certain images and video such as violence or nudity,” the lawsuit said.

“MiniMax’s bootlegging business model and defiance of U.S copyright law are not only an attack on Plaintiffs and the hard-working creative community that brings the magic of movies to life, but are also a broader threat to the American motion picture industry, which has created millions of jobs and contributed more than $260 billion to the nation’s economy,” the companies said in the suit.

Disney, WBD and NBCU seeks unspecified monetary damages or, alternatively, “at Plaintiff’s election,” maximum statutory damages (of $150,000 per infringed work). The suit also seeks an injunction barring MiniMax from infringing the studios’ copyrighted works.

On its website, MiniMax calls itself “a global AI foundation model company. Founded in early 2022, we are committed to advancing the frontiers of AI towards AGI via our mission Intelligence with Everyone.” The company claims its proprietary models and AI-native products have “cumulatively served over 157 million individual users across over 200 countries and regions, and more than 50,000 enterprises and developers across over 90 countries and regions.”

The full list of plaintiffs in the lawsuit against MiniMax are: Disney Enterprises Inc., Marvel Characters Inc., MVL Film Finance LLC, Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC and Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (collectively, “Disney”); Universal City Studios Productions LLLP and DreamWorks Animation LLC (collectively “Universal”); and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., DC Comics, The Cartoon Network Inc., Turner Entertainment Co. and Hanna-Barbera Productions Inc. (collectively “Warner Bros. Discovery”).

In addition to MiniMax, the media companies named as a defendant MiniMax parent company Shanghai Xiyu Jizhi Technology Co. Ltd.

Charles Rivkin, chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association — the film trade group which counts Disney, WBD and NBCU as members — supported the companies’ move to sue MiniMax. “Companies should know that they will be held accountable for infringing on the rights of American creators wherever they are located,” Rivkin said in a statement. “As we have previously stated, the Motion Picture Association strongly supports copyright protection and our member company efforts to enforce intellectual property rights. We remain concerned that copyright infringement, left unchecked, threatens the entire American motion picture industry, which supports over 2 million jobs in all 50 states and drives countless economic, social, and cultural benefits.”