Chinese tech giant ByteDance has vowed to take action on its controversial AI video-making tool Seedance after it was hit with a legal threat by Disney because of its realistic footage that appeared to use the studio’s intellectual property.
ByteDance has pledged to curb its controversial AI video-making tool Seedance.
In recent days, videos made using the latest version of the app have emerged online and been praised for their realism – although the trend has caused concern amongst major Hollywood studios who accuse the platform’s makers of copyright infringement.
On Friday (13.02.26), Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance which accused the Chinese firm of supplying SeeDance with a “pirated library” of the studio’s copyrighted characters – including those from Marvel and Star Wars.
Disney’s lawyers have accused ByteDance of committing a “virtual smash-and-grab” of their intellectual property, including superheroes from Marvel, Star Wars and various other cartoons.
ByteDance has told the BBC that it “respects intellectual property rights and we have heard the concerns regarding SeeDance 2.0”.
The tech giant said: “We are taking steps to strengthen current safeguards as we work to prevent the unauthorised use of intellectual property and likeness by users.”
ByteDance has not responded to questions asking for information about the safeguards it plans to implement.
Like other AI-generative tools, Seedance is able to create videos based on short text prompts.
Many of the app’s clips are based on real actors and shows and several have gone viral since the launch of its latest 2.0 version last week.
Clips that have been generated by Seedance show the Star Wars characters Anakin Skywalker and Rey fighting with their lightsabres as well as Spider-Man battling Captain America on the streets of New York.
The company has not revealed what data it uses to train Seedance.
It had previously said that the product had paused the ability for users to upload images of real people and stressed that it respects intellectual property rights and copyright protections and will take any infringements seriously.
Disney’s threat follows criticism of the app from other organisations in Hollywood.
The Motion Picture Association – which represents major US studios such as Warner Bros Discovery, Paramount and Netflix – has demanded that the tool “immediately cease its infringing activity”.
The actors’ union SAG-AFTRA has also accused Seedance of “blatant infringement”.
Meanwhile, the Japanese government has launched an investigation into the firm regarding potential copyright violations after AI-generated clips of popular anime characters from the country appeared online.
ByteDance is planning to curb AI video-making tool Seedance after Disney legal threat
