Hollywood's AI Prompt History

Disney and Universal sued Midjourney in June 2025, accusing it of using AI to create images of copyrighted characters like Darth Vader, Shrek, and others. Warner Bros. filed a similar lawsuit in September 2025.

Now the case is in discovery. Discovery is the evidence-sharing stage of a lawsuit. It is when both sides can ask for documents, emails, records, data, and other proof before trial.

During this stage, Midjourney wants the studios to hand over documents about their own AI use. That could include internal AI tools, custom models, third-party tools, prompts, outputs, training material, and records showing how studio employees used services like Midjourney.

Midjourney is within its rights to ask because if the studios are claiming AI use harms their copyrights, their own AI practices may be relevant evidence.

The point is this: the studios are saying AI copying is wrong. Midjourney wants to know whether those same studios have been using AI behind the scenes, and how.

This does not automatically make Midjourney right. A studio using AI on its own licensed characters is different from an AI platform letting users generate famous characters without permission. But it does make the case more complicated.

The fight started as a copyright case. It may now also become a look into how much Hollywood is already using AI while publicly warning about it.

Interesting, sometimes, how these cases evolve. Hollywood wanted to put Midjourney’s AI on trial. Now Midjourney wants to check Hollywood’s prompt history.

Reference: TechCrunch — Midjourney wants Hollywood studios to reveal the details of their AI usage