ByteDance Responds to Legal Threats Over AI Video Generator

Chinese tech firm ByteDance announced on Monday that it will implement measures to safeguard its intellectual property following legal threats from various U.S. studios, including Disney. This decision comes in the wake of growing concerns over its AI video generator, SeaDance 2.0.

A recent video produced by SeaDance 2.0 became quite popular in China last week, featuring a fabricated fight between Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. This AI model has been likened to DeepSeek, and its ability to craft cinematic stories from just a few prompts has drawn praise.

Disney reportedly sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance, claiming that the company used its characters in training SeaDance 2.0 without authorization, according to sources who spoke to Reuters. The letter contends that Seadance has been involved in copying, distributing, and creating derivative works featuring characters like Spider-Man and Darth Vader.

ByteDance allegedly packaged pirated libraries of copyrighted characters and presented them as if they were public domain resources, which, well, raises quite a few eyebrows.

In response to these issues, ByteDance stated: “We are taking steps to strengthen our current safeguards to prevent unauthorized use of our intellectual property and likeness by our users.” However, the company did not specify what those measures would entail.

Reports from Axios indicated that Disney’s action was not isolated, as Paramount Skydance has similarly issued a cease-and-desist letter, accusing ByteDance of “blatant infringement” of its intellectual property.

This isn’t Disney’s first rodeo. The company has previously targeted Character.AI, urging the platform to cease any unauthorized use of its copyrighted characters. On a related note, Disney recently entered into a licensing deal with OpenAI, allowing characters from franchises like Star Wars, Pixar, and Marvel to be utilized in its Sora video generator.