Google removed dozens of AI-generated videos featuring characters owned by the House of Mouse in response to Disney's cease-and-desist letter.
The move comes on the heels of Disney issuing a legal warning to Google. In it, Disney claimed that the tech giant was using its advantages in generative AI to “commercially exploit and distribute” infringing material.
Google said Friday that it is cooperating with Disney by removing videos generated by artificial intelligence that feature Mickey Mouse and other popular Disney characters.
“We have had a long-standing and mutually beneficial relationship with Disney and will continue to do so,” a Google spokesperson told multiple news outlets. “More generally, we built AI using public data from the open web and added innovative rights management, like Google extensions and YouTube’s Content ID, which gives sites and copyright holders control over their content.”
Prior to this update, Disney had warned Google, claiming that Google was “deliberately expanding the scope of the infringement.” The letter also noted that the infringing material featured characters from several Disney IPs, including “Frozen,” “The Lion King,” “Moana,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Deadpool,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” and “Star Wars.”
Disney went on to claim that Google “refused to take technical steps to mitigate or prevent copyright infringement,” but the tech giant's Friday statement appears to refute this claim.
Despite Disney's protests against Google's use of its IP, the House of Mouse isn't distancing itself from AI games. As we previously reported, Disney signed a licensing agreement with OpenAI, invested $1 billion in the technology company, and brought its suite of characters to Sora.
“The rapid advances in artificial intelligence are at an important time for our industry,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a statement this week. “Through this collaboration with OpenAI, we are expanding the reach of generative AI storytelling in a thoughtful and responsible way, while respecting and protecting creators and their work.” “By bringing together Disney's iconic stories and characters with OpenAI's breakthrough technology, we are putting imagination and creativity directly into the hands of Disney fans in ways never seen before, giving them a richer, more personal way to connect with the Disney characters and stories they love.”
Since then, several unions have expressed concerns about Disney's Open AI deal, with the WGA even denouncing it as a “sanction” for companies to steal company jobs.
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