Warner Bros.’ Cease-and-Desist Says TikTok Owner Made “Deliberate Design Choice” to Rip Off Its IP

The studio, which joins Paramount and Disney in sending cease-and-desists to ByteDance, accuses the company of deliberately rolling out Seedance 2.0 without safeguards. 2025's 'Superman' Courtesy of Warner Bros. Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Logo text ByteDance’s rollout of its AI video generator follows a well-worn playbook capitalizing on interest in iconic characters across movies, TV shows and comics in a tit-for-tat battle for users: Release the technology without guardrails, get buzz on social media and then announce safety measures presented as preventing the unauthorized use of studio-owned intellectual property after being threatened with legal action. That’s the assertion Warner Bros. Discovery made on Tuesday in a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance accusing the company of massive copyright infringement. Related Stories Movies "Infrastructure of Truth" Under Political Pressure and AI Disruption in Focus at Copenhagen Doc Fest's Industry Strand Business ByteDance Pledges to Curb AI Video Generator Tool Seedance After Legal Threats From Hollywood “Even worse, ByteDance is infringing Warner Bros. Discovery’s copyrights in plain sight, in an apparent attempt to promote and establish consumer demand for Seedance,” the letter stated. “ByteDance’s much-hyped launch of Seedance immediately drew interest from consumers seeking to interact with, consume, and, unfortunately, infringe Warner Bros. Discovery’s content.” In the letter, Warner Bros. Discovery demanded that ByteDance stop training its AI system on studio-owned content, identify training materials and block users from sharing videos featuring copyrighted characters. It also moved for the revocation of licenses if the technology has been shared with other companies. The company sent the cease-and-desist after ByteDance on Monday said it “respects intellectual property rights” and that it has “heard the concerns regarding Seedance 2.0.” But in announcing the strengthening of current safeguards, it added a qualification that those measures, which weren’t elaborated upon, are intended to “prevent the unauthorized use of intellectual property and likeness by users.” Warner Bros. Discovery stresses that ByteDance is the root cause of the misconduct and that users are simply taking advantage of design features for Seedance, which comes pre-loaded with heroes who’re at the center of DC Studios’ movies and TV shows, like Superman, Wonder Woman and The Joker. It calls this a “deliberate design choice.” With the letter, Warner Bros. Discovery joins Disney and Paramount in sending legal threats over the technology. Among the questions is whether Bytedance will look to establish some sort of opt-in regime to allow users to riff on copyrighted material. Following its rollout of Sora, OpenAI was forced to go this route but by that point, the gambit had largely worked. At one point, Sora was returning clips that feature recognizable movies, TV shows and games, including Bob’s Burgers, SpongeBob SquarePants, Gravity Falls, Pokémon, Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, among many others. It was the most popular free option on the App Store for days. Although studios own most of the intellectual property being used, agencies will have a say. In a statement, CAA said called ByteDance’s “brazen disregard for creators’ rights” unacceptable. “Despite having the opportunity to deploy their technologies responsibly, they chose to launch products that disregard an artist’s ownership and control over their creative work, depriving them of the exclusive use of their NIL and bodies of work, while simultaneously threatening the livelihood of all of those in the entertainment community,” it said. CAA is in talks with AI companies to force immediate change while working alongside SAG-AFTRA and regulators to implement safeguards, it added. Shortly after its release on Thursday, a stunningly realistic video of Tom Cruise fighting Brad Pitt had a top Hollywood screenwriter warning of major industry that will be forced by AI. “I hate to say it,” wrote Rhett Reese (Deadpool & Wolverine, Zombieland) on X. “It’s likely over for us.” The Motion Picture Association and SAG-AFTRA were quick to issue statement condemning massive copyright infringement by ByteDance. Read More About: AI Warner Bros Discovery THR Newsletters Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day Subscribe Sign Up More from The Hollywood Reporter Theater Broadway Box Office: ‘Harry Potter’ and Big Musicals See Holiday Bump