ByteDance, the Chinese tech company behind TikTok, has received substantial criticism from various media companies as well as threatened legal action by Disney, following its launch of Seedance 2.0, an AI program that allows users to generate hyper-realistic videos from text and image prompts.
Since the program’s launch last week, users have generated AI videos featuring celebrities and movie characters which have gone viral across social media. The Motion Picture Association accused ByteDance of the “unauthorised use of US copyrighted works on a massive scale” and stated that ByteDance should “immediately cease its infringing activity”.
Disney has reportedly sent a cease and desist to ByteDance, accusing it of training the Seedance 2.0 AI model with Disney characters without authorisation. It is alleged that Seedance 2.0 has reproduced, distributed and created derivative works which feature famous Disney characters such as Spider Man and Darth Vader, which has been described as a “virtual smash-and-grab” of its IP. Disney is not alone in its action against ByteDance, Paramount Skydance has also reportedly sent a cease and desist letter to it for the alleged infringing activity. The performers union, SAG-AFTRA, also stated that it stands by studios in condemning the “blatant infringement” by Seedance 2.0 and added that the platform “disregards law, ethics, industry standards and basic principles of consent”.
ByteDance stated that it is actively taking steps to strengthen the platform’s IP safeguards to prevent IP violations and the unauthorised use of likeness by its users.
The bigger-picture issue at hand is the ongoing battle between AI innovation and protecting human creativity, as IP law is supposed to do. In this regard, the Human Artistry Campaign said that “stealing isn’t innovation” and that the “AI-generated slop” produced by Seedance is instead destructive to our culture. It again shows the importance of protecting your IP to the fullest extent possible in this digital age.
If you have any questions on the above, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniels Law on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com.
