The legal battle between AI image generator Midjourney and three of Hollywood’s biggest studios has taken another dramatic turn, with the company now trying to uncover how Disney, Universal and Warner Bros. are using artificial intelligence behind closed doors. Midjourney is asking a federal judge to overturn a previous discovery ruling that limited what information it could obtain from the studios. The company argues that if the entertainment giants are using AI in ways similar to those they accuse Midjourney of using, that information could be crucial to its defense.
The dispute stems from a copyright lawsuit filed by Disney, Universal and Warner Bros., which alleges that Midjourney enables widespread infringement by allowing users to generate images featuring copyrighted characters from films and television. The studios maintain that the AI company unlawfully reproduces and creates derivative works based on their intellectual property.
Midjourney, however, is pushing back with a “fair use” defense while also claiming the studios themselves may be relying on AI tools in their own creative processes.
The company is seeking access to a wide range of internal documents, including AI business strategies, research reports, training datasets, model weights and board presentations discussing artificial intelligence. Midjourney also wants information about any internal AI systems the studios may use for tasks such as storyboarding, concept development and marketing.
Earlier this year, a magistrate judge ruled that the studios only needed to disclose information related to consumer-facing AI products, deciding that broader internal AI practices were not relevant to determining whether Midjourney infringed copyright.
Midjourney now argues that the limitation is too narrow. According to its latest filing, if the studios are training image-generation models using unlicensed copyrighted material for their own internal use, it could demonstrate that such practices have become an accepted industry custom. The company believes that evidence could strengthen its legal defenses.
The studios strongly disagree. Their legal team has accused Midjourney of conducting a “fishing expedition” designed to distract from the central copyright claims. They argue that the lawsuit is not about stopping artificial intelligence as a technology but about protecting copyrighted characters from unauthorized copying and commercial use.
The case is being closely watched across both Hollywood and the tech industry because its outcome could shape how copyright law applies to generative AI. Beyond deciding Midjourney’s future, the proceedings may also determine how much transparency major studios will be expected to provide about their own adoption of artificial intelligence.
As AI becomes increasingly embedded in filmmaking, visual effects and content development, the courtroom battle is evolving into something much bigger than one company’s legal defense. It is becoming a test of whether Hollywood’s biggest studios will also have to answer difficult questions about their own relationship with AI.