Chinese tech giant ByteDance has curbed development of its AI video creation tool SeaDance following legal threats from Disney and concerns from other entertainment companies.
Recently, a video created with the latest Seedance 2.0 app has gone viral online and is being praised for its realism. Some clips feature Marvel and Star Wars characters fighting in highly detailed scenes.
Hollywood studios have warned that the platform is infringing on copyright. On Friday, Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance, alleging that SeaDance was using a “pirated library” of the studio’s copyrighted characters. Disney’s lawyers have described the situation as a “de facto usurpation” of intellectual property.
ByteDance responded by saying it “respects intellectual property rights” and is introducing stronger safeguards to prevent unauthorized use of copyrighted characters and real-life likenesses. The company has not yet announced specific measures.
Seedance generates videos from short text prompts, often featuring real actors and shows. Videos of Spider-Man fighting Captain America and Rey’s lightsaber duel with Star Wars character Anakin Skywalker are already circulating online.
The Motion Picture Association of America, which represents major U.S. studios such as Warner Bros., Paramount and Netflix, is calling on ByteDance to stop its infringing practices. Actors union SAG-AFTRA also accused SeaDance of “blatant rights violations.” Meanwhile, the Japanese government has begun an investigation after a popular anime character appeared in an AI-generated video.
Legal pressure on AI content tools is increasing globally. Last year, Disney and NBCUniversal sued AI image generation company Midjourney for making unauthorized copies of copyrighted works, and Disney also asked Google to restrict AI generation of characters.
Elizia Rubizina
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