Similar to what happened when Midjourney released its new video generator that enabled users to create videos with Hollywood studios’ animated characters, the video generator Seedance, owned by Chinese-based Bytedance, has roiled Hollywood studios.
The AI-generated video that caused the greatest uproar was one pitting Brad Pitt against Tom Cruise:
Disney swiftly sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance, which reportedly has agreed to deploy greater guardrails.
In a response to the BBC, Bytedance reportedly stated: “We are taking steps to strengthen current safeguards as we work to prevent the unauthorised use of intellectual property and likeness by users.”
Whether that response is good enough to stave off a copyright lawsuit against Bytedance remains to be seen. My guess probably not.
Bytedance already faces one copyright infringement lawsuit in the United States filed by YouTube creators Ted Entertainment.