Signage at a ByteDance offices in Beijing, China, on June 30, 2023.
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Chinese tech giant ByteDance has said it will strengthen safeguards on a new artificial intelligence video-making tool, following complaints of copyright theft from entertainment giants.
The tool, Seedance 2.0, enables users to create realistic videos based on text prompts. However, viral videos shared online appear to show copyrighted characters and celebrity likenesses, raising intellectual property concerns in the U.S.
“ByteDance respects intellectual property rights and we have heard the concerns regarding Seedance 2.0.,” a company spokesperson said in a statement shared with CNBC.
“We are taking steps to strengthen current safeguards as we work to prevent the unauthorized use of intellectual property and likeness by users,” the spokesperson added.
ByteDance’s response comes after receiving backlash and stern warnings from Hollywood groups like the Motion Picture Association (MPA), a trade association representing major Hollywood studios including Netflix, Paramount Skydance, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney.
The group issued a forceful public statement at the end of last week demanding that ByteDance immediately cease what it called “infringing activity.”
“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,” said MPA chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin in the statement.
“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.”
According to a report from Axios, Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter Friday to ByteDance, accusing the company of distributing and reproducing its intellectual property through the new AI tool without permission.
The legal notice alleged that ByteDance had effectively pre-packaged Seedance with a pirated library of copyrighted characters, portraying them as if they were public-domain clip art,” the report added.
Disney has also sent cease-and-desist letters to AI companies in the past. In September, the company warned the AI startup Character.AI to stop the unauthorized use of its copyrighted characters.
While trying to protect its intellectual property, Disney has signed a licensing deal with and invested in OpenAI. The agreement allows the AI company to use Disney characters from the Star Wars, Pixar and Marvel franchises in its Sora video generator.
Paramount Skydance has also sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance, making similar accusations, Variety reported over the weekend.
