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Bytedance, the parent company of video streaming platform TikTok, was hit with a cease-and-desist letter from Disney over its new Seedance 2.0 generative AI tool. In the details of the order, Disney claimed that the Chinese company infringed on its creative property to train the new model.
In the letter, which was first reviewed by Axios, Disney accused ByteDance of manipulating its copyrighted Disney characters as if they were available for use in the public domain.
The letter further claims that Seedance 2.0 includes a “pirated library” full of Disney assets, listing some of its biggest franchises from Star Wars to Marvel superhero movies. The generative artificial intelligence model was released this week by ByteDance and has triggered a wave of criticism from people from all corners.
Why did Disney serve ByteDance with a cease-and-desist order?
In its letter, Disney claimed that ByteDance is choosing to hijack Disney’s character despite several well-publicized objections on the company’s part.
According to Disney’s attorney, David Singer of Jenner & Block LLC, ByteDance is reproducing, distributing, and creating derivative works featuring those characters. “ByteDance’s virtual smash-and-grab of Disney’s IP is willful, pervasive, and totally unacceptable,” he added.
The letter also mentioned that Disney believes that this violation is just the beginning, considering the fact that Seedance has only been available for a few days.
In addition to Disney properties, the tool has also been used to generate videos using “The Lord of the Rings” assets and the likenesses of A-list Hollywood stars such as Will Smith, Brad Pitt, and Tom Cruise. The same stance was echoed in the statements released by SAG-AFTRA and the MPA, with both bodies speaking against Seedance 2.0 since it dropped.
“SAG-AFTRA stands with the studios in condemning the blatant infringement enabled by ByteDance’s new A.I. video model Seedance 2.0,” a spokesperson for the actors’ union said in a statement.
The spokesperson mentioned that the infringement includes the unauthorized use of members’ voices and likenesses, highlighting that it is a practice that is unacceptable and blocks real human talents from making a living with their abilities.
“Seedance 2.0 disregards law, ethics, industry standards, and basic principles of consent,” the spokesperson added.
Disney opens the door to artificial intelligence
In its response to Seedance 2.0, the Motion Picture Association slammed Seedance 2.0 on Thursday in response to an AI-generated fight scene between Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. The association accused the company of disregarding copyright laws and called on it to desist from any infringement activities.
“In a single day, the Chinese AI service Seedance 2.0 has engaged in unauthorized use of U.S. copyrighted works on a massive scale,” Charles Rivkin, chairman and CEO of the MPA, said in their statement.
“By launching a service that operates without meaningful safeguards against infringement, ByteDance is disregarding well-established copyright law that protects the rights of creators and underpins millions of American jobs. ByteDance should immediately cease its infringing activity,” Rivkin added.
ByteDance is not the first AI firm to receive a cease-and-desist order from Disney. In December 2025, Disney sent a letter to Google, accusing the company of copyright infringement on a massive scale.
Disney argued that Google is using its dominance in generative AI to commercially exploit and distribute infringing images and videos featuring Disney-owned characters. This came at a time when the company also sent the same letters to Meta and Character.AI.
Disney also previously announced that it had joined NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery in litigation against Midjourney and MiniMax.
At the same time, Disney has embraced AI, taking a $1 billion stake in OpenAI. In addition, the company has also announced plans to license its characters to OpenAI’s Sora video platform, with the company noting that the characters will be available for ChatGPT’s image generation tools.
Sora-generated videos will also stream on Disney+, and OpenAI will also help power new features across its service.
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