June 10-16 News Roundup: Hollywood, Florida and New York Aren't Gonna Let It Go

Disney and Universal go after Midjourney on IP infringement. Credit: Onur Binay | Unsplash

From Hollywood’s courtroom offensive to stark regulatory warnings, the narrative has moved from reactionary to revolutionary.

Disney and Universal Launch Fight Against Midjourney

In a groundbreaking move, Disney and NBCUniversal filed suit against Midjourney on June 11, claiming that “piracy is piracy, and the fact that it’s done by an AI company does not make it any less infringing.” The filed complaint accuses Midjourney of copyright infringement for allowing users to create unauthorized images of iconic characters like Spider-Man, Elsa, Darth Vader, and the Minions.  Specifically, the studios argue that Midjourney’s AI was trained on copyrighted material scraped from the internet, then used to generate near-exact replicas of studio-owned characters—without permission, licensing, or compensation. The studios describe the platform as a “virtual vending machine” for pirated content, and are seeking damages, injunctive relief, and a halt to further infringing use.

This is the first major lawsuit by Hollywood studios directly targeting a generative AI company. The outcome could reshape the legal foundation of the AI industry. Midjourney’s defense will likely raise whether generating high-fidelity images of copyrighted characters using AI qualifies as “transformative” and thus protected under fair use. However, the studios contend that the outputs are derivative, not transformative, and that the company, which generates about $300 million in annual revenue, profits directly from enabling infringement through its paid service.

The case raises broader questions about AI’s use of creative IP without consent and the economic implications for content creators. Hollywood executives stress that the lawsuit is not anti-AI, but a defense of intellectual property. 

As regulators and courts begin to address the boundaries of AI training and output, this lawsuit could set a powerful precedent. If Disney and Universal succeed, it may force AI companies to adopt licensed datasets and fair compensation models for creative work.

AI Legislation Picks Up Speed in Florida and New York

During the week of June 9, Florida and New York took bold steps to regulate artificial intelligence, signaling a shift in how lawmakers are addressing AI’s risks to identity, safety, and intellectual property.

In Florida, a new law signed on June 13 requires online platforms to promptly remove deceptive deepfake content, especially if it misrepresents someone’s appearance in a political or sexually explicit context. While the law focuses on personal harm, it sets a precedent for holding platforms accountable when AI-generated media misuses someone’s likeness or voice. It could be an early model for stronger protections for creatives, actors, and performers whose identities are being digitally replicated without consent.

In New York, lawmakers passed two major bills with implications for both AI developers and content creators. The Responsible AI Safety and Evaluation (RAISE) Act mandates pre-deployment safety reviews for advanced AI models, as well as transparency around training data and regular audits. In parallel, an AI copyright disclosure bill was approved that would force AI companies to publicly report whether any copyrighted books, music, films, or artworks were used in model training—especially if no license was obtained.

Together, these laws raise the bar for transparency and safety, especially for companies building powerful foundation models. If signed into law by New York’s governor, these requirements could give creators and copyright holders new tools to detect and challenge the misuse of their work in AI systems.

These developments reflect a growing national trend: as generative AI tools continue to remix and imitate human creativity, states are stepping in where federal law remains silent. The Florida and New York measures suggest a broader future where creators’ rights to transparency, attribution, and consent may be backed by enforceable law, not just voluntary ethics codes.

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