Hollywood’s biggest movie studios are going to war with ByteDance over its new artificial intelligence tool. The Chinese company, which owns TikTok, recently launched “Seedance 2.0,” a program that creates realistic videos from simple text descriptions. But instead of original art, people are using the app to make videos featuring famous movie characters and celebrities without permission.
The backlash from the entertainment industry was swift and harsh. The Motion Picture Association (MPA), which speaks for giants like Netflix, Sony, and Universal, demanded that ByteDance stop what it calls “massive scale” theft. Charles Rivkin, the head of the MPA, said the tool has no real protections to stop people from stealing copyrighted work. He argued that ByteDance is ignoring laws that protect creators and support millions of American jobs.
Disney didn’t just complain; it took legal action. On Friday, the company sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance. Disney’s lawyers claim the app is essentially pre-packaged with a library of pirated characters, treating them like free clip art that anyone can use. Paramount Skydance followed suit, sending its own legal warning over the weekend.
This legal fight highlights a messy divide in the AI world. While Disney is suing ByteDance, it is actually working with other AI firms. For instance, Disney recently signed a deal with OpenAI. That agreement allows OpenAI’s “Sora” video generator to use characters from Star Wars and Marvel legally because Disney gets a cut of the action.
ByteDance is now trying to fix the mess. A company spokesperson said they respect the rights of creators and are listening to the complaints. They promised to strengthen the app’s safeguards to prevent users from making videos with stolen intellectual property or famous faces.
For now, the pressure is on ByteDance to prove it can control its own technology. If it can’t stop the flow of pirated content, it could face a long and expensive battle in U.S. courts against some of the most powerful companies in the world.
