Disney despatched ByteDance a cease-and-desist letter over its new Seedance 2.0 generative AI video software on Friday, claiming the Chinese language proprietor of TikTok infringed on its inventive property to coach the brand new mannequin.
Within the letter first reviewed and reported by AxiosDisney accuses ByteDance of manipulating its copyrighted Disney characters as in the event that they had been within the public area The letter additional claims Seedance 2.0 features a “pirated library” filled with Disney belongings from its largest franchises — from Star Wars to Marvel superhero movies.
“Over Disney’s well-publicized objections, ByteDance is hijacking Disney’s characters by reproducing, distributing and creating spinoff works that includes these characters,” Disney’s legal professional David Singer of Jenner & Block LLC wrote. “ByteDance’s digital smash-and-grab of Disney’s IP is willful, pervasive and completely unacceptable.”
The letter continued: “We imagine that is simply the tip of the iceberg – which is surprising contemplating Seedance has solely been accessible for a number of days.”
The generative AI mannequin, launched this week by ByteDance, has triggered a wave of business backlash. Along with Disney properties, the software has additionally generated movies utilizing “The Lord of the Rings” belongings and the likenesses of A-list Hollywood stars comparable to Will Smith, Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise.
SAG-AFTRA and the MPA have each issued their very own statements talking out towards Seedance 2.0 because it dropped.
“SAG-AFTRA stands with the studios in condemning the blatant infringement enabled by ByteDance’s new A.I. video mannequin Seedance 2.0,” a spokesperson for the actors’ union mentioned in a press release. “The infringement contains the unauthorized use of our members’ voices and likenesses. That is unacceptable and undercuts the flexibility of human expertise to earn a livelihood. Seedance 2.0 disregards regulation, ethics, business requirements and fundamental ideas of consent. Accountable A.I. improvement calls for duty, and that’s nonexistent right here.”
The Movement Image Affiliation slammed Seedance 2.0 on Thursday in response to an AI-generated struggle scene between Pitt and Cruise, accusing the corporate of “disregarding” copyright legal guidelines and calling on them to “stop its infringing exercise.”
“In a single day, the Chinese language AI service Seedance 2.0 has engaged in unauthorized use of U.S. copyrighted works on an enormous scale,” Charles Rivkin, chairman and CEO of the MPA, mentioned of their assertion. “By launching a service that operates with out significant safeguards towards infringement, ByteDance is disregarding well-established copyright regulation that protects the rights of creators and underpins thousands and thousands of American jobs. ByteDance ought to instantly stop its infringing exercise.”
ByteDance just isn’t the primary tech and AI firm to obtain a cease-and-desist letter from Disney. In December, Disney despatched a letter to Google accusing the tech big of copyright infringement on a “huge scale.” The corporate argued that Google is leveraging its dominance in generative AI to “commercially exploit and distribute” infringing photographs and movies that includes Disney-owned characters.
The transfer adopted comparable cease-and-desist letters Disney despatched to Meta and Character.AI, and got here as the corporate joins NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery in litigation towards Midjourney and MiniMax.
On the identical time, Disney has embraced AI, taking a $1 billion stake in OpenAI and planning to license its characters to OpenAI’s Sora video platform in early 2026. These characters — although not the actors who painting or voice them — will even be accessible for ChatGPT’s image-generation instruments, with curated Sora-generated movies set to stream on Disney+ and OpenAI serving to energy new options throughout the service.
