Hollywood condemns ByteDance’s Seedance AI over copyright issues

Hollywood organizations are criticizing ByteDance’s new AI video model, Seedance 2.0, for facilitating copyright infringement.

Launched earlier this week, Seedance 2.0 is available to Chinese users of ByteDance’s Jianying app and will soon reach global users of CapCut.

The tool allows users to generate 15-second videos from text prompts, with concerns raised over its ability to create videos featuring likenesses of real people and copyrighted characters.

A viral video showing deepfake Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt prompted industry leaders to condemn the technology.

The Motion Picture Association’s CEO Charles Rivkin called for ByteDance to stop infringing activities, citing extensive unauthorized use of US$ copyrighted works.

Hollywood trade groups and SAG-AFTRA have also issued statements condemning the platform.

Disney and Paramount have sent cease-and-desist letters accusing ByteDance of IP violations related to characters like Spider-Man, Darth Vader, Baby Yoda, and others.

ByteDance has not responded to requests for comment.

🔗 Source: TechCrunch

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Hollywood is following a familiar playbook against AI infringement

Hollywood has used this playbook before when new AI video tools appear, and the response tracks what happened with OpenAI’s Sora 2 model 1.
After an industry backlash over copyright, OpenAI added safeguards that make it harder for users to copy studio-owned material 1.
That cycle of public pushback and product changes can end in licensing, and Disney later agreed to license 200 characters for use on Sora 2 1.
Disney is taking two paths now, with a cease-and-desist letter to Google over similar concerns plus a $1 billion agreement with OpenAI tied to licensing characters to Sora 2.

Copyright disputes are colliding with creator economics

Complaints from studios such as Disney and Paramount also focus on speed and price, since Seedance 2.0 can generate 15-second clips from text prompts fast and cheaply.
A Deadline commenter pointed to an Instagram reel that used a 15-second Seedance 2.0 video recreating a scene from Brad Pitt’s “F1” movie, which the commenter said took two minutes to make and cost seven cents, then compared it with what they argued would be a much higher cost for the original production 2.
That shift helps explain why “Deadpool” co-writer Rhett Reese said he was “terrified” and warned Hollywood is about to be “revolutionized/decimated” 3.
The tools can move high-end work toward one person at a computer, which feeds job fears across film and TV, and the Motion Picture Association (MPA) ties copyright to “millions of American jobs” 1.