ByteDance Faces Legal Pressure from Disney Over AI Video Tool
Synopsis
ByteDance is cracking down on the unauthorised use of well-known characters on its new AI video generator, Seedance 2.0. The action came after Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter to the tech firm, alleging that it had used Star Wars and Marvel characters without permission. Other studios, like Paramount, Skydance too have shared apprehensions on the copyright theft. ByteDance has said it would ramp up its protections for intellectual property, but it is unclear what steps the company will take as it struggles to avoid a major lawsuit.
ByteDance has promised to enhance the security of its Seedance 2.0 AI video tool following legal threats from Disney and Paramount. The studios allege that the tool was trained on characters copyrighted by such companies as Marvel and Lucasfilm, without permission. While ByteDance has vowed to halt the illicit use of others’ intellectual property, it hasn’t disclosed detailed plans for remediating the issue.
- ByteDance vows to keep users from utilising copyright material on its new A.I. tool
- Disney and other major studios warned of lawsuits over the unauthorised use of popular icons
- An AI video generator, Seedance 2.0 started to go viral for making realistic movie star clips
- Tech firms are grappling with the tension between rapid A.I. growth and tough intellectual property rules
ByteDance is scrambling to protect itself after some of the world’s biggest movie studios said they would sue. The company, which owns TikTok, said on Monday that it will take fresh measures to prevent individuals from using copyrighted characters on its new AI video tool Seedance 2.0. The decision followed warnings from Disney and other entertainment titans that their famous stories and heroes were being appropriated without permission.
The problem began last week with the release to the public of Seedance 2.0. The tool is very advanced and it can go from a couple of written words to high-quality videos. Videos of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt and other American stars began appearing online in China almost at once. People were wowed by how real the videos appeared, but the companies that owned the rights to these famous faces and characters weren’t pleased.
Disney over the weekend dispatched a formal legal letter to ByteDance in which it demanded that they stop. Disney sources say they believe that ByteDance trained its AI on a stolen library of characters. They argue that the tool’s ease of use allows anyone to generate new videos with Spider-Man or Darth Vader. Disney contended that they are not free characters and that by allowing individuals to spread them, ByteDance was breaking the law.
In a brief statement, ByteDance said it was working to bolster the defences against this kind of unauthorised use. They want to ensure that their user aren’t violating copyright while they tinker with and play around with the new AI. But the company did not offer many specifics about how, precisely, they would be blocking these characters or when the new safety features would be available.
Disney is not the only company that’s been grumbling about the new technology. Skydance Paramount also wrote a letter to ByteDance accusing the company of “blatant infringement” surrounding their properties. That reflects the increasingly uneasy relationship between tech and film. While tech companies have aspirations to create the hottest new tools, movie studios just want to make certain they get paid when their famous characters are used.
This is not the first time Disney has responded to AI. They recently struck a deal with OpenAI, the developers of ChatGPT, allowing them to incorporate Star Wars and Marvel characters legally. In making that deal, they demonstrated that they are prepared to do business with A.I. companies, but only when companies play by the regulations. For the moment, ByteDance will need to show that it can keep Disney’s characters off its service if it hopes to avoid a sprawling legal fight.
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