Netflix isn’t thrilled with ByteDance’s new AI video tools.
The streaming giant sent a cease-and-desist letter to China-based TikTok’s parent company on Tuesday night, calling its new generative AI model Seedance 2.0 a “high-speed piracy engine.”
Seadance was in the spotlight last week after a user created a viral video of people resembling Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt brawling on a rooftop over disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Some were impressed, others panicked, with Deadpool co-writer Rhett Reese writing, “I hate to say it. We’re probably done.”
In its letter to ByteDance, Netflix said its AI video tools were also creating videos imitating characters from hit Netflix shows such as “Stranger Things,” “Bridgerton,” and “The Squid Game,” as well as the mega-popular movie “KPop Demon Hunters.”
“The use of a copyrighted work to create a competing commercial work, especially one that regurgitates the original, is not protected by fair use,” Netflix’s head of litigation said.
Netflix has asked ByteDance to stop generating AI videos similar to its IP, and to identify and remove any such videos that have already been created. It also insisted on pulling its own IP out of Seedance’s training dataset.
A ByteDance spokesperson said the company “respects intellectual property rights” and “hears concerns about SeaDance 2.0.”
A ByteDance spokesperson said: “We are taking steps to strengthen our current safeguards to prevent unauthorized use of our intellectual property and likeness by our users.”
Disney sent a message similar to Netflix’s to ByteDance last week. This is notable since Disney reached a deal in December to license its iconic characters to OpenAI for its video generation app Sora.
In a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance, SeaDance said it was using “a pirated library of Disney’s copyrighted characters from Star Wars, Marvel, and other Disney franchises as if Disney’s coveted intellectual property were free public domain clip art.”
Netflix echoed that sentiment, saying, “We cannot stand by and watch ByteDance treat our valuable IP as free public domain clip art.”
Paramount Skydance also sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance last week expressing similar concerns, Variety reported.
Read the letter from Netflix to ByteDance below.
Re: CEASE AND DESIST — Willful infringement of Netflix’s intellectual property by Seedance 2.0 Dear Mr. Rogovin, I am an in-house advisor to Netflix, a global entertainment service that owns and distributes popular movies and television series. ByteDance’s recently announced audio-video generation AI model, Seedance 2.0 (“Seedance”), was found to be involved in widespread and intentional unauthorized reproduction of Netflix’s valuable intellectual property. Compromise: High-fidelity backflow evidence Seedance acts as a high-speed piracy engine, churning out unauthorized derivative works that utilize Netflix’s iconic characters, worlds, and scripted stories. Current forensic evidence indicates that Seedance is being used to generate unauthorized derivative works, including but not limited to: ● Bridgerton: Unauthorized depictions of Season 4 content, particularly depictions of characters in a masquerade ball setting. These pieces reflect specific costumes that are important to the story, such as Sophie Baeck’s “Lady in Silver” gown. ByteDance promoted this content using the #Bridgerton tag through its own official social media channels such as @BytePlusGlobal. ● Stranger Things: A high-fidelity reboot of the final episode of the series. Featuring detailed recreations of the series’ iconic cast and monsters, including the Demogorgon and the Mind Flayer. ● squid game: Seadance has created a “Red Light, Green Light” set and recreation of the iconic Yong Hee doll. These include unauthorized crossovers, such as inserting real-world figures like Elon Musk into the Squid game environment. ● KPop Demon Hunter: Seedance recreated the specific visual style and character designs of the animated musical feature, including the main character Rumi. Netflix has never authorized ByteDance to use our content to generate these images and videos. ByteDance’s activities are intentional and constitute direct and secondary copyright infringement. Using a copyrighted work to create a competing commercial product, especially one that regurgitates the original, is not protected by fair use. pressing demands To avoid immediate litigation, Netflix requires ByteDance to: 1. Stop generating output: We will immediately implement technical guardrails to prevent Seedance from producing content similar to Netflix-protected characters, titles, and settings. 2. Remove infringing content: We will remove all illegally obtained Netflix-owned content from our training dataset and scrub all existing Seedance-generated videos featuring Netflix IP from ByteDance-managed platforms. 3. Identify all breaches: Provides descriptions of all instances where Seedance generated content based on prompts related to Netflix’s IP. 4. Revoke third-party access: Revoke access for commercial partners or API users who currently use Seedance to generate unauthorized derivative works for Netflix. Netflix cannot afford to sit by and watch ByteDance treat our valuable IP as free public domain clip art. We look forward to hearing from you within 3 business days. All rights and remedies are reserved. nice to meet you, mindy lemoyne Director of Litigation
