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ByteDance Pledges to Protect Disney Characters After Legal Threat
In a developing story that highlights the growing tensions between intellectual property holders and burgeoning AI technology, China’s ByteDance, the company behind the popular AI video-making tool Seedance, announced Monday it is taking steps to prevent the unauthorized use of Disney characters. This move comes after Disney’s legal team issued a cease and desist notice, alleging a “pirated library” of their characters was being made available through Seedance.
ByteDance informed the BBC on Monday that it “respected the rights of the owners of intellectual property” and was “taking steps to strengthen current safeguards as we work to prevent unauthorized use of intellectual property and likeness by users.” The company, however, did not elaborate on the specific measures it plans to implement.
The legal threat from Disney surfaced just three days prior, with lawyers describing ByteDance’s alleged actions as a “virtual smash and grab” of the studio’s intellectual property.
The release of Seedance 2.0 last Tuesday has seen numerous videos generated by the AI tool appear online, some achieving viral status, including a highly circulated clip depicting a “fight” between actors Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. The technology’s ability to produce professional-looking video with minimal text prompts has ignited concerns within the entertainment industry, with some fearing it could pose an existential threat.
U.S. screenwriter and producer Rhett Reese voiced these anxieties in an online post after viewing the Cruise-Pitt video, stating, “I hate to say it. It’s likely over for us.” He elaborated on the potential for individuals to create indistinguishable Hollywood-quality films from their computers, provided they possess the necessary talent.
The actors’ union, SAG-AFTRA, has also weighed in, accusing Seedance of “blatant infringement.” This is not the first instance of major content producers taking action against AI generators; Disney and NBCUniversal reportedly sued AI image generator Midjourney in 2025 over “endless unauthorized copies” of their works. Disney has also requested Google to prevent its AI platforms from generating Disney characters.
Despite these legal battles, a parallel trend is emerging, with U.S. content producers also strategically investing in AI. In December, Disney notably licensed over 200 characters to ChatGPT’s Sora video-making tool and announced a substantial $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI, the developer behind ChatGPT.