As the Hollywood furor over a new AI tool, SeaDance 2.0, continues to grow, the Walt Disney Company reportedly sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance, which launched the tool earlier this week.
According to the news site Axios, the letter states that ByteDance is stocking SeaDance 2.0 with “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.”
The letter further adds, “Despite Disney’s well-known objections, ByteDance is hijacking Disney characters by copying, distributing, and creating derivative works featuring those characters. ByteDance’s de facto usurpation of Disney’s intellectual property is intentional, pervasive, and completely unacceptable.”
Disney believes “this is just the tip of the iceberg, which is shocking considering Seadance has only been open for a few days,” the letter said.
Disney did not respond to requests for comment at the time of writing.
Shortly after Seedance 2.0 became available on Thursday (February 12), the Motion Picture Association of America accused the tool of “massive” copyright infringement.
Now performers union SAG-AFTRA has added its voice to the industry’s outcry, saying in a statement: “We stand with the studios in condemning the blatant violations made possible by Bytedance’s new AI video model Seedance 2.0. Violations include the unauthorized use of our members’ voices and likenesses. This is unacceptable and undermines the ability of human talent to earn a living. Seedance 2.0 ignores.” Laws, ethics, industry standards, and the fundamental principles of consent require responsibility, which is absent here. ”
SAG-AFTRA Chairman Sean Astin is one of the actors whose images appeared in a clip produced by Seedance 2.0 and posted on social media sites, surprising many industry experts. The new deepfake clip is lord of the rings A trilogy featuring AI versions of Astin and Elijah Wood as the characters played in the films.
Also joining in the alarm over ByteDance tools is the Human Artistry Campaign, a member organization that includes SAG-AFTRA, the American Society of Directors of American Cinema, and the European Writers’ Council.
“The launch of SeaDance 2.0 is an attack on all creators around the world. Stealing the work of human creators in an attempt to replace it with AI-generated slop is destructive to our culture. Stealing is not innovation,” the campaign said in a statement.
“These unauthorized deepfakes and actor voice clones violate the most fundamental aspects of personal autonomy and should be deeply concerning to everyone,” the statement continued. “Authorities should use all legal means at their disposal to stop this grand theft.”
ByteDance has not yet commented on its statement regarding Seedance 2.0.
