Key holding or allegation
On 22 May 2026 the court denied motions to dismiss, finding the studios' training and near-identical output allegations sufficiently plausible to proceed.
Why it matters
Important pleading-stage decision linking highly similar outputs to plausible allegations about training use.
Facts
Studios allege training on protected characters and near-identical generated character outputs.
Issues before the court
Whether direct and secondary infringement theories concerning training and generated outputs were plausibly pleaded.
What the court did not decide
No final finding that the protected works were actually in training data or that training/output conduct infringed.
Procedural timeline
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
Motion-to-dismiss ruling: Court denied motions to dismiss, finding studio allegations concerning training and near-identical Hailuo AI character outputs plausible enough to proceed.