Midjourney is appealing a magistrate judge's order that limits its ability to obtain details on how Disney, Universal and Warner Bros. use AI.
The AI image company faces a copyright lawsuit filed last year by the three studios, which accuse it of enabling infringement of their characters. Midjourney has asserted a fair use defense and claims the studios engage in similar AI practices.
In June a magistrate judge ruled that the studios need only disclose information about consumer-facing AI applications. Midjourney filed a motion this week asking Judge John Kronstadt to reverse that limit.
Its attorney Bobby Ghajar wrote that evidence of the studios training AI on unlicensed data would support the company's fair use and unclean hands arguments. The studios' counsel David Singer has described the request as a fishing expedition.
Midjourney wants access to the studios' AI business plans, training datasets, model weights and internal presentations on the technology.
