Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, NBCUniversal Sue Chinese AI Company MiniMax for Mass-Scale Copyright Theft

Three major media companies are suing a Chinese AI company whose image and video generating service “pirates and plunders” their copyrighted works.

On Tuesday, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and NBCUniversal filed a lawsuit against MiniMax, a Chinese AI company. Their filing alleges that MiniMax’s generative AI model, Hailuo, enables “willful and brazen” copyright infringement of their intellectual properties.

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the lawsuit asserts that MiniMax treats the studios’ copyrighted works as if they were its own. The company is reportedly valued at $4 billion, and its Hailuo AI is a subscription service.

“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 lawsuit reads. “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.”

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

The lawsuit provides several examples of MiniMax’s alleged infringement. These include generated images of superheroes, villains, and other beloved characters like Darth Vader, Minions, Spider-Man, Wonder Woman, the Joker, and more.

“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.)”

Further, the studios alleged that MiniMax failed to act on their cease-and-desist requests and “blatantly continues to infringe Plaintiffs’ copyrights in favor of its own bottom line.”

“We support innovation that enhances human creativity while protecting the contributions of countless creators and the entire creative industry,” the studios said in a joint statement. “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 three studios are seeking an unspecified amount in monetary damages or maximum statutory damages—$150,000 per infringed work. They also seek an injunction to prevent MiniMax from continuing to infringe their work.

Disney, NBCUniversal, and Warner Bros. Discovery’s latest lawsuit follows similar lawsuits they filed against AI startup Midjourney earlier this year, also alleging widespread copyright infringement.