AI Plagiarism Just Got Real — And It's Time We Do Something About It
⚖️ This week, Disney and NBCUniversal filed a landmark lawsuit against Midjourney, accusing the AI image company of training its models on copyrighted material—including Star Wars, Frozen, Shrek, and Marvel franchises—without permission. The studios didn’t hold back: they called Midjourney a “bottomless pit of plagiarism.”
🌊 This isn’t just a Hollywood story. It’s the beginning of a wider reckoning in AI—a battle over consent, compensation, and creative rights.
At IPTO, we’ve been preparing for this moment for years. This has been the core insight we’ve been building for a while now.
🇬🇧 Across the Pond: UK Parliament Sounds the Alarm
The UK Parliament just debated the #DataUseAndAccessBill.
Photographers’ orgs dropped hard stats on how much PAID work is being lost to AI.
One word kept coming up: Urgency.
What’s going on here?
AI tools are being trained on:
- ❌ Unlicensed art
- ❌ Uncredited photos
- ❌ Scraped books, music, voices
- ❌ Human creativity
…and creators get $0.
📌 The Problem Is Systemic
🔄 Generative AI tools have exploded in popularity—but most were built on datasets scraped from the open web without permission. That includes copyrighted music, artwork, photography, videos, voices, and more. For creators, this isn’t innovation—it’s extraction.
⚡️ And now, the lawsuits are coming.
💡 What We’ve Been Building
🔗 IPTO is building the licensing infrastructure for AI:
- 🔐 APIs that let developers train on licensed content
- 💰 Tools for creators to license their IP and earn royalties
- 📝 On-chain records that track where and how content is used
Our mission is simple:
AI should be trained on content that’s licensed, not looted.
🤝 We’re already working with artists, AI teams, and researchers who want to build ethically—from the ground up.
🚀 This Is the Moment to Change Course
The Disney vs. Midjourney case is a wake-up call for the industry.
It’s time to:
- ⚖️ Build AI systems that respect creator rights
- 🤝 Adopt opt-in licensing models
- 🛑 Stop pretending that web scraping is a free-for-all
🤝 The Future Is Licensed
✨ We believe in a world where AI helps creators—not replaces or exploits them.
If you’re building generative AI tools, datasets, or models—talk to us. And if you’re a creator whose work is being used without your consent, we’re building solutions for you too.
The era of AI plagiarism must end. Let’s make ethical AI the new standard.
—
📧 For partnerships and demos, reach out at [email protected].
Get Early Access
- 🎨 IP Companies & Creators - License your content and earn royalties
- 💻 Developers & AI Companies - Build with licensed content
Related Posts
Building Trust in AI: How Licensed APIs Enable Ethical Enterprise Adoption
In today’s rapidly evolving AI landscape, trust and transparency have become paramount concerns for enterprises. As AI technologies become increasingly sophisticated, companies face a critical challenge: how to leverage AI’s power while ensuring ethical and legal compliance. This is where IPTO is stepping in, building the gold standard for AI data licensing and creating a new paradigm of trust and accountability through licensed AI APIs. The growing importance of trust in enterprise AI adoption.
Unlock New Revenue: How Creators Can Monetize Their Past Work in the AI Era
“My old demo from 2014 is now part of an AI vocal model? Cool… so where’s my check?” Whether you’re an indie artist with forgotten demos, a Bollywood scriptwriter with unproduced gems, a K-Pop idol whose choreography is mimicked by virtual influencers, or a fashion icon whose 2017 cover shoot defined a trend — you’ve probably felt it: AI is evolving fast, and it’s building its future on your past. Often, without asking.