MiniMax Releases Open-Weight H3 Video Model, Blocks US, UK, EU and South Korea Over Copyright Suits
AI video model releases
MiniMax Releases Open-Weight H3 Video Model, Blocks US, UK, EU and South Korea Over Copyright Suits
MiniMax Group, based in Shanghai, released its new H3 video-generation model under an open-weight licence that lets users download, modify and run it locally.
The licence explicitly excludes the US, UK, EU and South Korea; users in those markets must apply for a formal licence before using the open weights, though paid API access remains available globally.
Ryan Lee, MiniMax's head of developer relations, said the US exclusion is due to "ongoing generative video copyright litigation with major Hollywood studios."
Disney, Universal City Studios and Warner Bros. Discovery sued MiniMax last September, alleging its Hailuo AI platform was trained on copyrighted content and can generate imagery tied to their IP.
In May, a judge at the US District Court for the Central District of California denied MiniMax's motion to dismiss, so the case is still ongoing.
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