Disney, NBCU, and Warner Bros. Discovery just filed suit against Chinese AI firm MiniMax, saying its Hailuo AI lets users generate characters like Darth Vader, Minions, and Wonder Woman without permission. For now, it’s framed as a copyright case — but it forces us to ask: once our work is “out there,” how much control do we really have?
AI is inevitably shifting paradigms - we've seen cases where fans who were being libertine with the use of their favorite characters/films were eventually brought into the fold and leveraged instead of combated. But these are private for-profit companies... quite different.
As producers, do we build with protection in mind, or accept that replication is inevitable and focus elsewhere? Does trying to protect even matter in the long run?
Article link: https://shorturl.at/KMQsd
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What’s interesting about this Sebastian Tudores is that two major investors of MiniMax are Alibaba and Tencent. Each funded movies like Top Gun: Maverick, Kong: Skull Island, Star Trek Beyond, and Kung Fu Panda 3. Paramount is absent from the suit.
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Sebastian Tudores This case really highlights the crossroads we’re standing at as creators. On one hand, protecting IP feels essential, especially for those of us pouring time, money, and identity into original work. On the other hand, the speed of AI development makes that control feel increasingly fragile.
Your point about fans being “brought into the fold” is so important. We’ve seen studios embrace fan creations when it serves them, but the rules shift when it’s another company profiting off the IP. That inconsistency is what makes it so murky.
I think the question for us as producers, writers, and creators becomes: how do we futureproof our work without stifling innovation or exhausting ourselves in an unwinnable fight? Maybe the answer is a hybrid: build smart IP strategies early, but also stay nimble, keep evolving, and be open to redefining success in the age of remix culture.
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Yeah! This reminds me of fake fashion brands that mimic luxury fashion brands. We must be aware of and protect our intellectual property. I remember making the world's first rain umbrella from cork skin. I protected the IP with all of the mechanisms and details, and many copies appeared on the market, but the main difference was that my umbrella was the only one that did not fall apart, which made the original one by my brand stand out. But, of course, we must protect our intellectual property.
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Leonardo Ramirez 2 that's a sharp observation - I think Paramount decided they were done with Chinese investment after the 2017 Transformers, but definitely after Top Gun Maverick in 2022. Tencent was in but then they withdrew precisely because of censorship concerns back home. Warner Bros. Discovery is in the lawsuit and Paramount is making a go at them - so Paramount may have decided to just sit and watch this one. I did some research on the geopolitical elements of media a few years ago and let's just say that the China-US Facebook relationship status in the film industry would be: It's Complicated lol
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Ashley Renee Smith your conclusion to "... be open to redefining success in the age of remix culture" is deeply insightful, as all decisions and strategies will flow from that re-definition. A new equilibrium point is coming, for sure.
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Sandra Isabel Correia you never cease to amaze me! you designed umbrellas?? What have you NOT done may be a much easier question to answer with you :) first-to-market is a great position AND a great risk... increasingly so with service-type industries but definitely with products as well.
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Thanks Sebastian Tudores - I'm wondering if Paramount is absent because they're open to whatever Oracle is doing with AI.
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oooh - good point Leonardo Ramirez 2 - don't litigate, find solutions kind of approach?
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Sebastian Tudores
I'm wondering if he wants to develop AI for filmmaking.
He thinks like a tech developer/innovator/entrepreneur. Why fight when you can innovate, create and own the advancement? “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”
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haha! yesss - SunTzu all the way Leonardo Ramirez 2 ! and you're probably right about AI/filmmaking angle
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Sebastian Tudores, as I always say, I have three lives :D That was my crowning achievement as a businesswoman, and it was there that I won so many awards and learned everything I know about business today. It was risky but also challenging because you were creating something no one had thought of before. Life is amazing, my friend. Just to show you the umbrella, here's a photo from one of our advertising campaigns in New York. :)
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oh I love it Sandra Isabel Correia !
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It was an interesting idea.