Hollywood cuts first-ever AI copyright deal with – Business News
Hollywood’s high copyright cops and TikTok’s mum or dad company have referred to as a truce of their struggle over artificial intelligence.
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) and ByteDance introduced a shock deal Monday to slap powerful security guardrails on the Chinese tech giant’s highly effective AI video and image mills, together with Seedance and Seedream.
Disney had accused ByteDance of pre-packaging Seedance with a pirated library of copyrighted Star Wars and Marvel characters in Feb. 2026. NurPhoto by way of Getty Images
The newly inked settlement ensures that ByteDance’s latest AI tech will respect Hollywood’s mental property rights, stopping customers from prompting AI to cook up bootleg blockbusters or knock-off film stars.
“Copyright is a cornerstone of the film and television industry,” MPA Chief Charles Rivkin mentioned in a assertion Monday.
He added that each events had discussions for a number of months “to implement meaningful guardrails on Seedance and Seedream,” that are provided by TikTok, the TikTok USDS Joint Venture, CapCut and Dreamina.
Charles Rivkin mentioned copyright is a cornerstone of the movie industry Variety by way of Getty Images
ByteDance General Counsel John Rogovin added that the Chinese company “respects the intellectual property rights that underpin creative industries around the world.”
“We believe responsible innovation in AI goes hand in hand with meaningful protections for rightsholders,” Rogovin mentioned.
The peace treaty comes after the MPA fired off a fierce cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance back in February of this yr.
The studios raised considerations that the rogue AI instruments had been hijacking iconic characters and superstar faces with out asking for permission after videos generated by Seedance 2.0 went viral in China together with one of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in a battle.
Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt attend the “F1: The Movie” European premiere at Cineworld Leicester Square on Monday, June 23, 2025, in London, England. FilmMagic
The homepages of the Chinese AI video technology model Seedance 2.0 seem on a cell phone, with Disney seen within the background on this picture illustration in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (NurPhoto) NurPhoto by way of Getty Images
Disney had accused ByteDance of pre-packaging Seedance with a pirated library of copyrighted characters from franchises together with Star Wars and Marvel, portraying them as in the event that they had been public-domain clip artwork.
The letter alleged that Seedance was reproducing, distributing and creating spinoff works that includes Spider-Man, Darth Vader, and different characters.
Following the robust pushback from the studios, ByteDance had mentioned that it’ll take steps to forestall the unauthorized use of mental property on its AI video generator Seedance 2.0
“We are taking steps to strengthen current safeguards as we work to prevent the unauthorized use of intellectual property and likeness by users,” ByteDance had mentioned in a Feb. assertion.
