"We are often afraid of what we don’t know, but restraining technology is not the answer.”

—Devin Wenig, President and CEO, eBay

Innovation, or Imitation?

AI image generator Midjourney just stepped into their first major legal brawl, and they’re up against two of the biggest media giants in the game—Disney and Universal.

The Allegation

Copyright infringement on a cinematic scale.

According to the studios, Midjourney’s tech acts like a “virtual vending machine,” churning out high-quality bootlegs of iconic characters like Shrek, Darth Vader, and the Minions. All without permission, of course.

They’re not just mad. They’re set on making a point. “Piracy is piracy,” declared Disney’s legal team, and the presence of an algorithm doesn’t make it “artful.”

Midjourney reportedly made over $300M last year with 21M subscribers. The studios argue that its business model is built on IP it didn’t own. And they’re coming for a slice of the profits.

Fair Use vs. Use Abuse

At the heart of the dispute is the concept of “fair use”, a legal doctrine that allows for limited, transformative use of copyrighted works.

Midjourney (like many AI companies) has leaned on this defense, arguing that its AI models synthesize rather than replicate, much like human inspiration.

But Disney and Universal argue otherwise, pointing to outputs nearly indistinguishable from film stills, or promo art. Not reinterpretations. Straight up replicas.

Precedent in Flux

Recent court wins for Anthropic and Meta seem to favor AI firms.

In Anthropic’s case, a federal judge ruled that the company's use of millions of copyrighted books to train its chatbot Claude was protected under fair use—so long as the training data was used to inform new outputs and not to reproduce existing material verbatim.

Similarly, a judge sided with Meta in a similar case, finding that the plaintiffs had failed to prove that Meta’s AI outputs harmed the market for their original works.

But those cases involved text. Images (especially of iconic characters like Yoda or Elsa) introduce a different level of legal and commercial sensitivity. And this case could test where courts draw that line.

The Bigger Picture

Ultimately, this lawsuit could redefine copyright law in the AI era.

A win for studios may require AI firms to license training data; a win for AI would reinforce broad fair use protections.

Whatever the outcome, the precedent will ripple across industries—reshaping how content is created, who owns it, and how it’s monetized. It’s worth keeping an eye on.

We’ve all been there. You’ve got something important to say. Maybe it’s that fresh inventory just landed, service hours are changing, or there’s a big event on the horizon. Heck, maybe it’s just an email to your boss that needs a little finesse. But let’s be honest: how you say it matters just as much as what you say.

That’s where vibe statements come in.

This week’s prompt is all about controlling tone without sacrificing clarity. It gives you a simple structure to guide AI toward messaging that not only lands, but resonates:

• Management & Operations: Innovation Acceleration
  This platform applies a structured innovation method, supported by AI, to help teams identify and implement operational improvements. It’s particularly useful for dealership staff looking to streamline internal processes or enhance customer experiences.
  

• Finance & Insurance: LendBuzz
  This AI-driven auto finance platform utilizes alternative data and machine learning to assess creditworthiness, enabling dealerships to offer financing to customers with limited or no traditional credit history.
  

• Data and Automation: Cursor
  This AI-powered code editor integrates natural language commands and context-aware suggestions to streamline coding tasks. While not a daily tool for most dealership staff, it can be valuable for automating data workflows or customizing internal tools without extensive programming expertise.

In our most recent ASOTU Edge conversation, Scott Traylor of Mia Luke Morris of Earnhardt CDJR and Scott Traylor of Mia unpack how they brought conversational AI into the store without alienating the team or torching the process.

You’ll hear exactly how they used Mia to boost appointment volume, capture after-hours ROs, and even turn AI call transcripts into staff training gold.

If you’re wondering how to get employee buy-in, improve customer response times, and stop missing calls, this is your blueprint.

Watch the replay and learn how you can gain the AI advantage at your store today.

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• Waymo has extended its robotaxi service to Atlanta, making it the company's fifth significant U.S. location. 🚕