A legal battle between Midjourney and three Hollywood studios has taken a new turn. The AI image generator is now asking the court to force those studios to reveal their own internal AI usage. This comes amid broader claims that the studios used Midjourney’s works without proper licensing.
What Midjourney wants
Midjourney’s legal team filed a motion seeking discovery into how the studios deploy AI tools internally—both in pre-production and post-production. The company argues that if studios are using AI to generate concept art, storyboards, or even final frames, they should be transparent about it. “They can’t accuse us of infringement while keeping their own AI workflows under wraps,” the filing stated.
Relevance for Cyprus and EU businesses
For business owners in Cyprus or elsewhere in the EU, this case highlights a growing compliance reality: AI usage is no longer a black box. If your web or app service relies on generative models—for product images, translations, or content creation—you may need to document exactly which models you use and how. Under GDPR, especially Article 22 (automated decision-making), vague AI policies risk legal exposure. A local e-commerce site using AI-generated product descriptions could face similar discovery requests from competitors or regulators.
Midjourney’s motion specifically asks for details on training data, model versions, and any third-party AI integrations. This mirrors what EU regulators increasingly demand from SaaS and CRM providers. For a Cyprus-based web studio building a multilingual ERP for a Cyprus client, that means ensuring your tech stack documents AI dependencies—down to the API calls.
The studios have yet to respond publicly. But the case could set a precedent: if you use AI in your business processes, expect others to ask how—and be prepared to answer.