TikTok’s Chinese owner on Thursday released the latest version of its AI-powered video creation model, ushering in a wave of user-generated videos featuring Hollywood stars and intellectual property, sounding an alarm in the entertainment world.
In just a short period of time, Seadance 2.0 users not only widely distributed a video of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt engaging in hand-to-hand combat, but also created an alternate ending for the game. game of thrones A clip featuring Rocky Balboa and Optimus Prime at a fast food restaurant.
The subsequent response from organizations with ties to Hollywood was as swift and intense as it was in fall 2025, when OpenAI’s Sora 2 shocked the industry with a clip featuring iconic Hollywood assets and an initial “opt-out” stance. In the latter case, the talent agency reacted quickly and said it would opt the client out. OpenAI head Sam Altman backed down amid backlash and offered “more granular” control for IP creators.
Top Hollywood studios and streamers quickly began competing with ByteDance. “In just one day, Chinese AI service Seadance 2.0 committed massive unauthorized use of American copyrighted material,” Charles Rivkin, CEO of the Motion Picture Association, a studio trade group, said in a statement Thursday afternoon. “By launching its service without meaningful protections against copyright infringement, ByteDance is ignoring established copyright laws that protect the rights of creators and support millions of American jobs.”
Rivkin called on the company to “immediately cease its infringing activities.”
On the labor front, SAG-AFTRA, the union representing actors such as Cruise and Pitt, said Friday that ByteDance is committing “blatant violations.” The union added: “This violation includes the unauthorized use of members’ voices and likenesses. This is unacceptable and undermines the ability of human talent to earn a living.”
The union continued: “Seedance 2.0 ignores the fundamental principles of law, ethics, industry standards and consent. Responsible AI development requires accountability, and that is absent here.” SAG-AFTRA has long advocated for the principles of consent and indemnification to underpin any use of AI that impacts our members.
The Human Artistry Campaign, a coalition of artists and entertainment organizations that includes members such as the Recording Industry Association of America, the NHL Players Association and the AFL-CIO, advocates for technology companies to license material for their AI tools in general and for artists to opt out.
On Friday, the organization called SeaDance 2.0 “an attack on all creators around the world.” The group added that the alleged theft of works by human creators is “devastating to our culture” and that AI-generated clips from the platform “violate the most fundamental aspects of personal autonomy and should be deeply concerning to everyone.”
Those groups were joined by the Copyright Alliance, a creator and copyright advocacy group, calling on ByteDance to end the flood of user-generated content featuring intellectual property. “The theft of American creators’ work by foreign bad actors is a threat to our nation’s creators and to our global leadership in creativity and responsible AI innovation, and must not be tolerated,” said CEO Keith Kupferschmidt.
hollywood reporter We have reached out to ByteDance for comment.
If Hollywood follows the same strategy with Seedance 2.0 as it did with Sora 2, some of the industry’s most influential organizations could come together to push for change. After the initial release of Sora 2, an unauthorized video was created. breaking bad Actor Bryan Cranston raised his concerns with SAG-AFTRA, which then worked with the Association of Talent Agents, UTA and CAA to discuss improving guardrails around portraits with OpenAI.
At the time, SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin said, “Brian did the right thing by reaching out to union and professional representatives to address this issue…We are pleased that OpenAI is committed to using an opt-in protocol, where all artists can choose whether they want to participate in the exploitation of their voice and likeness using AI.”
The union has been focused on AI for years and isn’t afraid to take a hard line on issues of existential concern for actors. AI regulation was also a major issue during the union’s 118-day strike against film and television studios in 2023 and the long-term video game strike in 2024-2025. AI is once again expected to be at the top of the agenda as unions negotiate 2026 labor contracts with studios and streamers. Negotiations began on Monday.
