ByteDance’s new AI video model, Seedance 2.0, is displayed on a smartphone screen.
VCG | Visual Group China | Getty Images
Chinese tech giant ByteDance has announced it will strengthen safeguards on a new artificial intelligence video creation tool, following copyright theft complaints filed by entertainment giants.
The Seedance 2.0 tool allows users to create realistic videos based on text prompts. However, viral videos shared online appear to show copyrighted characters and celebrity likenesses, raising intellectual property concerns in the United States.
“ByteDance respects intellectual property rights and we have heard the concerns regarding Seedance 2.0,” a company spokesperson said in a statement shared with CNBC.
“We are taking steps to strengthen current protections as we work to prevent unauthorized use of intellectual property and imagery by users,” the spokesperson added.
ByteDance’s response comes later receive negative reactions and harsh warnings Hollywood groups like the Motion Picture Association (MPA), a trade association representing major Hollywood studios including Netflix, Paramount Skydance, Sony, Universal, Discovery of Warner Bros. And Disney.
The group issued a strongly worded public statement late last week demanding that ByteDance immediately stop what it calls “counterfeiting activity.”
“In a single day, Chinese AI service Seedance 2.0 engaged in massive, unauthorized use of U.S. copyrighted works,” Charles Rivkin, MPA president and CEO, said in the statement.
“By launching a service that operates without meaningful safeguards against infringement, ByteDance is disregarding the well-established copyright law that protects the rights of creators and underpins millions of American jobs.”
According to a report from Axios, Disney sent a cease and desist letter to ByteDance on Friday, accusing the company of distributing and reproducing its intellectual property through the new AI tool without permission.
The legal notice alleged that ByteDance had effectively pre-packaged Seedance with a pirated library of copyrighted characters, representing them as if they were public domain clipart,” the report added.
Disney has also sent cease and desist letters to AI companies in the past. In September, the company warned starting Character.AI to stop unauthorized use of its copyrighted characters.
While trying to protect its intellectual property, Disney signed a license agreement with and invested in OpenAI. The deal allows the AI company to use Disney characters from the Star Wars, Pixar and Marvel franchises in its Sora video generator.
Paramount Skydance also sent a cease and desist letter to ByteDance, making similar accusations, Variety reported during the weekend.
