Hollywood giants sue China's MiniMax over AI copyright infringement

Hollywood’s legal machine just opened a new cross-border front.

Disney, Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros. Discovery have joined forces to sue MiniMax, the high-flying Chinese AI startup behind the Hailuo AI video generator, alleging massive copyright infringement in a California federal court.

MiniMax is widely considered one of China’s "Six Tigers"—a cadre of premier AI startups stacked with veterans from Google and Huawei. The Shanghai-based company has reportedly been targeting a valuation of over $4 billion while preparing for an eventual public listing, claiming more than 157 million individual users across 200 countries.

"A Hollywood studio in your pocket"

According to the complaint, MiniMax pitched Hailuo AI to consumers as a "Hollywood studio in your pocket." But the studios claim that pocket studio was built on blatant theft.

The lawsuit alleges that Hailuo AI featured iconic figures like the Joker and Groot in its advertising materials without permission. More critically, typing simple text prompts into the tool can instantly generate high-quality, downloadable videos and images of characters such as Darth Vader, Yoda, Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Minions—often branded with Hailuo's own watermark.

The studios called it an audacious "bootlegging business model," seeking statutory damages of up to $150,000 per infringed work, plus legal fees and a permanent injunction. The motion picture giants warned that as video models improve, unauthorized clips will soon stretch from brief demos into full-length pirate movies.

Why it matters

This isn't just another IP spat—it is the first major blow struck by Hollywood's heavy hitters against a top Chinese frontier lab.

Major studios have already taken Midjourney to court in recent months, but suing an overseas lab marks an aggressive escalation. Motion Picture Association chief Charles Rivkin made that clear, stating creators will hold AI companies accountable "wherever they may be located."

For creators and builders, Hailuo AI has quickly become a fan favorite for cinematic video rendering. However, generating recognizable characters for commercial client work or social media campaigns is officially entering the legal danger zone. Guardrails will almost certainly be forced onto the platform, likely breaking existing prompt workflows.

We think this lawsuit hits MiniMax at the worst possible moment. When you are eyeing a multi-billion-dollar valuation and international expansion, facing a coordinated federal copyright assault from Disney, Warner Bros., and Universal makes foreign market growth and enterprise contracts extraordinarily toxic.