Hollywood studios cry copyright foul, sue Chinese AI firm

By Saadet Gokce

ISTANBUL (AA) - Prominent Hollywood studios have jointly initiated a case against Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company MiniMax over alleged copyright infringement.

The suit's plaintiffs include studios like Disney, Universal and Warner Bros. Discovery, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in California.

MiniMax's Hailuo AI, image, and video generating service, "pirates and plunders Plaintiffs’ copyrighted works on a massive scale," argued the lawsuit.

"MiniMax markets Hailuo AI as a 'Hollywood studio in your pocket'" and offers its subscribers an endless supply of images and videos featuring the studios' famous copyrighted characters, like Star Wars' Darth Vader or the Minions from Despicable Me movies, it said.

"MiniMax’s copyright infringement is willful and brazen," the lawsuit said, adding that the Chinese company has failed to act on requests to adopt reasonable measures to avoid infringement.

The plaintiffs called the alleged infringements a "broader threat to the American motion picture industry, which has created millions of jobs and contributed more than $260 billion to the nation’s economy."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said that while he is not “familiar” with the issue, "China attaches great importance to the protection of intellectual property rights and fulfills its international obligations in accordance with laws and regulations."