Disney, Universal, and Warner Bros Alliance Takes Legal Action Against MiniMax Over AI Copyright Theft

Walt Disney, Universal Pictures (a Comcast company), and Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) have jointly initiated a significant copyright lawsuit against the Chinese artificial intelligence startup MiniMax, accusing the company of infringing on their intellectual property through its AI-powered image and video-generating service called Hailuo AI. The lawsuit, filed in a California district court in September 2025, alleges that MiniMax deliberately used and profited from iconic copyrighted characters such as Darth Vader from Star Wars, the Minions from Despicable Me, and Wonder Woman without permission, while openly advertising Hailuo AI as a "Hollywood studio in your pocket".ft+2

Allegations and Legal Claims

The studios claim that MiniMax "boldly" and "willfully" infringed on their copyrights by enabling subscribers to create and download images and videos featuring these characters branded with MiniMax's service name. They allege that the company ignored multiple requests to implement commonly accepted safeguards to prevent copyright violations in AI systems—a standard practice among AI service providers to respect intellectual property laws. By allegedly neglecting these precautions and actively promoting the use of stolen content, MiniMax is accused of treating valuable copyrighted characters as if they belonged to the company, flagrantly violating U.S. copyright laws.reuters+3

The studios are seeking damages and an injunction to stop MiniMax from operating the Hailuo AI service without proper copyright protections. MiniMax reportedly serves over 157 million individual users worldwide and more than 50,000 businesses across 90 countries. The company is valued around $3-4 billion and is among the first Chinese AI startups aiming for a public market listing later in 2025, highlighting the unique challenge this case poses to the fast-growing generative AI sector in China.bloomberg+2

Wider Context: Similar Lawsuits Against AI Companies

This lawsuit follows parallel legal battles in the U.S. where Disney, Universal, and WBD have sued the AI image-generation company Midjourney for similar copyright infringements. In these filings, Midjourney is accused of training its AI on vast amounts of copyrighted visual content from studios without authorization and enabling users to generate and distribute infringing images and videos of famous characters like Batman, Bugs Bunny, Joker, and Scooby-Doo. Despite having previously implemented safeguards, Midjourney allegedly removed these protections, further escalating the studios' claims.red94+2

Warner Bros Discovery and its co-plaintiffs argue that such unauthorized use of copyrighted characters threatens multiple revenue streams, including licensing, merchandise, and promotional deals, beyond just box office earnings. The lawsuits underscore the studios' position that AI services must obtain proper licenses for training data and comply with copyright laws or face statutory damages and other penalties. These cases are seen as setting crucial legal precedents about how intellectual property rights are protected in the emerging AI creative technologies space.variety+3

Industry and Legal Impact

The coordinated nature of these lawsuits illustrates a rare unified stance among the largest media companies in Hollywood against generative AI firms. The studios aim to hold AI developers accountable for leveraging their copyrighted content without permission and to establish clear legal boundaries in AI use. Legal experts point out that outcomes of these cases could fundamentally reshape how AI models are trained and monetized, possibly requiring expensive licensing deals or other compliance mechanisms for AI platforms.

For creators and fans, the lawsuits may lead to stricter controls on the use and distribution of AI-generated images and videos based on copyrighted characters, potentially limiting "free-for-all" creative uses but also ensuring proper compensation and rights protection for original content owners. This legal pressure may compel platforms to implement more rigorous safeguards and attribution policies to avoid infringement.ashurst+1

In summary, the lawsuit against MiniMax together with others against AI platforms like Midjourney represents a landmark moment in the protection of entertainment intellectual property in the age of generative AI, with major Hollywood studios aggressively defending their creative assets against unauthorized AI exploitation.ft+3

If further details or more nuanced analysis of the lawsuit, its broader impact on AI, and intellectual property law are desired, additional exploration could be provided.