Hollywood trade organizations are condemning Seedance 2.0, a new AI video generator from TikTok-owner ByteDance, for enabling massive scale copyright infringement. The Motion Picture Association (MPA), representing major studios including Disney and Warner, stated the tool lacks meaningful safeguards and demanded ByteDance cease all infringing activity.
The backlash follows the viral spread of AI-generated clips featuring unauthorized likenesses of actors Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. The tool also produced content using copyrighted characters such as Spider-Man and Darth Vader.
Disney has issued a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance following the appearance of its intellectual property in the generated videos. The actors' union SAG-AFTRA and other creative groups joined the criticism, stating the tool undercuts performer livelihoods by using voices and likenesses without consent.
This conflict highlights escalating tensions between tech developers and creative industries over the use of intellectual property to train and operate generative AI models.