Synopsis
A US judge has rejected a bid by Chinese AI firm MiniMax to dismiss a lawsuit. Major studios like Disney and Universal accuse MiniMax of stealing their intellectual property. They claim MiniMax used copyrighted material to train its AI system, Hailuo. The court found the studios' claims plausible.Listen to this article in summarized format
Spokespeople and attorneys for the companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the decision on Tuesday. The studios sued MiniMax last year, alleging it trained Hailuo on their copyrighted material, and used their characters to market Hailuo as a "Hollywood studio in your pocket." They alleged Hailuo generated images and videos, including characters from the Marvel universe, "Star Wars" movies, and other blockbuster franchises without permission. The case is one of many filed by major media companies, authors, news outlets, and other copyright holders against tech companies for allegedly using their content without permission to train AI systems. The studios have separately filedsimilar lawsuits against the AI company Midjourney that are ongoing.
MiniMax argued that the California court could not hear the case because the company does all of its business in China. But Blumenfeld said there was evidence that the company was offering the Hailuo app in the United States.
Blumenfeld also rejected MiniMax's argument that the studios failed to bring a valid claim, finding the studios' complaint "plainly alleges plausible claims" for copyright infringement.
The case is Disney Enterprises Inc v. MiniMax, US District Court for the Central District of California, No. 2:25-cv-08768.
