Three artists have launched a class action lawsuit in San Francisco, USA against Stability AI, Midjourney, and DeviantArt, creators of artificial intelligence (AI) art generators, alleging intellectual property rights infringements.

The artists argue that the producers of AI art generators violated the copyrights of millions of users by scraping the web to train their art algorithms without getting approval from content owners or giving credit or compensation. As such, they are seeking damages as well as an injunction to prevent future harm from the AI tools in question.

The lawsuit alleges direct copyright infringement, vicarious copyright infringement related to forgeries, violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), violation of class members’ rights of publicity, unlawful competition, and a breach of terms of service.