Chinese technology giant Bytedance is moving to restrict features of its Seedance artificial intelligence video tool after Disney and other Hollywood companies accused the platform of large scale copyright infringement. The latest 2.0 version of Seedance, released on 12 February, has driven a surge of realistic, short clips shared online, many of which depict well known film characters and scenes. The company told the BBC that it “respects intellectual property rights and we have heard the concerns regarding Seedance 2.0” and said it is taking steps to strengthen safeguards against the unauthorised use of copyrighted material and likenesses, although it did not detail how those safeguards will work.
Disney escalated the dispute on Friday by sending a cease and desist letter alleging Seedance was built on a “pirated library” of Disney characters, including those from Marvel and Star Wars, and describing Bytedance’s actions as a “virtual smash-and-grab” of its intellectual property. The BBC identified Seedance generated clips online showing Star Wars characters Anakin Skywalker and Rey fighting with lightsabres, and Spider-Man battling Captain America on New York streets. Seedance, like other generative artificial intelligence products, creates videos from short text prompts and often bases them on recognisable actors and shows, but Bytedance has not disclosed which data sources were used to train the model and has previously said it paused the ability for users to upload images of real people.
The dispute comes as Disney is deepening its own use of generative tools through formal partnerships, including a $1bn (£730m) deal with OpenAI that grants access to 200 characters from Disney franchises such as Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars. Other studios and industry bodies have backed Disney’s challenge, with Paramount Skydance reportedly issuing its own cease and desist notice and the Motion Picture Association demanding Seedance “immediately cease its infringing activity”. Actors’ union Sag-Aftra has labelled the platform “blatant infringement” and Japan has opened an investigation into possible copyright violations after artificial intelligence generated clips of popular Japanese anime characters surfaced online. Legal scrutiny of generative image and video services is widening, as shown by ongoing lawsuits from Disney and NBCUniversal against artificial intelligence image generator Midjourney and Disney’s separate request that Google limit the creation of Disney characters on its artificial intelligence platforms.
