After Disney sent them a cease and desist letter, ByteDance has announced they are working to improve safeguards that protect intellectual property in their AI video generator Seedance 2.0.
ByteDance Responds to Cease and Desist
Disney said the TikTok owner had packed Seedance 2.0 “with a pirated library of Disney’s copyrighted characters from Star Wars, Marvel, and other Disney franchises, as if Disney’s coveted intellectual property were free public domain clip art.”
Paramount also sent a cease and desist letter to ByteDance, saying Seedance 2.0 created “vivid depictions of Paramount’s famous and iconic franchises and characters.”
In a statement to Deadline, ByteDance said it “respects intellectual property rights and we have heard the concerns regarding Seedance 2.0. We are taking steps to strengthen current safeguards as we work to prevent the unauthorised use of intellectual property and likeness by users.”
Seedance 2.0 launched on Thursday, February 12, 2026.
The Motion Picture Association said after the launch, “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. 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.”
The Human Artistry Campaign expressed concerns, too, saying, “The launch of Seedance 2.0 is an attack on every creator around the world. Stealing human creators’ work in an attempt to replace them with AI-generated slop is destructive to our culture: stealing isn’t innovation.”
“These unauthorized deepfakes and voice clones of actors violate the most basic aspects of personal autonomy and should be deeply concerning to everyone. Authorities should use every legal tool at their disposal to stop this wholesale theft.”
Disney previously sent cease and desists to Character.AI and Google’s Gemini over their usage of Disney characters. In December, they announced a partnership with OpenAI’s Sora.
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