Disney sends cease-and-desist to ByteDance over AI-generated videos

Advertisement World Disney sends cease-and-desist to ByteDance over AI-generated videos A screen shows the logo and a ticker symbol for The Walt Disney Company on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, on Mar 21, 2025. (File photo: Reuters/Jeenah Moon) 16 Feb 2026 12:47PM Bookmark Bookmark Share WhatsApp Telegram Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn Set CNA as your preferred source on Google Add CNA as a trusted source to help Google better understand and surface our content in search results. Read a summary of this article on FAST. Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FAST Disney has sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance accusing the Chinese company of using Disney characters to train and power its Seedance 2.0 AI video generator without permission, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.Disney said ByteDance had pre‑packaged Seedance with a pirated library of copyrighted characters from franchises including Star Wars and Marvel, portraying them as if they were public-domain clip art, the person said.The letter alleges Seedance is reproducing, distributing and creating derivative works featuring Spider-Man, Darth Vader, and other characters, the person added.ByteDance will strengthen safeguards on its Seedance 2.0 AI video tool to prevent the unauthorised use of copyrighted characters and celebrity likenesses, the Chinese firm told the BBC on Sunday (Feb 15).ByteDance did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.Online news outlet Axios was the first to report on Disney's move. Paramount Skydance has also sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance, accusing the Chinese firm of engaging in "blatant infringement" of its intellectual property, Variety reported over the weekend.Videos generated by Seedance 2.0, which was released last week, have gone viral in China including one of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in a fight. The AI model has been compared to DeepSeek and has been praised for its ability to produce cinematic storylines with just a few prompts. Disney has taken similar actions against Character.AI, demanding that the startup immediately stop the unauthorised use of its copyrighted characters.In December, Disney signed a licensing deal with OpenAI, letting the startup use characters from Star Wars, Pixar and Marvel franchises in its Sora video generator. Related: Hollywood accuses Chinese AI Seedance of massive infringement Source: Reuters/rk Newsletter Week in Review Subscribe to our Chief Editor’s Week in Review Our chief editor shares analysis and picks of the week's biggest news every Saturday. Sign up for our newsletters Get our pick of top stories and thought-provoking articles in your inbox Subscribe here Get the CNA app Stay updated with notifications for breaking news and our best stories Download here Get WhatsApp alerts Join our channel for the top reads for the day on your preferred chat app Join here Related Topics Disney ByteDance AI Advertisement Also worth reading Content is loading... Advertisement Expand to read the full story Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FAST