The Disney vs. Google saga has taken a new turn after the latter removed a video uploaded to YouTube featuring AI-generated Disney characters.
YouTube deletes AI-generated video of Disney characters
According to reports from Deadline and Variety, Google recently moved to remove all videos on YouTube that feature AI-generated Disney characters. As of Friday, Dec. 12, this effectively removed AI-generated videos featuring characters such as Mickey Mouse, Star Wars characters, Deadpool, Moana, and other Disney IP.
Users trying to access AI-generated videos featuring Disney characters were reportedly able to do so last Thursday, but were unable to do so just one day later.
Those who followed the link anyway were greeted with a message on YouTube that said, “Due to a copyright claim by Disney, this video is no longer available.”
These reports do not say how many videos have been removed from YouTube by Google, only that “dozens” of videos have been removed from the platform.
Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter to Google last week, accusing the company of copyright infringement in various aspects of its business.
But it's not clear what will happen to those who still try to upload AI-generated videos of Disney characters via YouTube, especially if the platform will immediately flag them or remove them immediately.
Disney vs. Google: A story of AI piracy
It was just last week that Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter to Google asking it to make various changes to its operations and technology to avoid copyright infringement.
The entertainment company said Google has tolerated “massive Disney copyright infringement” for a long time.
The letter targets a variety of actions by Google that allegedly flagrantly infringe on Disney's intellectual property rights, including uploads by users to YouTube featuring AI-generated Disney characters.
According to the letter, Google has allowed the uploading of AI-created characters from its own franchises, including Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars.
Meanwhile, Disney also said that Google's AI video generation platform Veo and the new Nano Banana Pro were allegedly trained using Disney IP and could potentially generate AI-generated compromises for users.
Google's only comment on the matter is that it has a long-standing relationship with Disney, and that it hopes to continue that relationship in the future.
There was no other statement from Google regarding this copyright infringement claim brought against the company by Disney.
Disney and Google are known to have previously clashed over the YouTube TV licensing agreement, leading to the temporary withdrawal of Disney channels from the service.
