Disney has sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance, accusing the Chinese company of using its copyrighted material to train the recently released Seedance 2.0 AI tool. Disney claims ByteDance developed the tool "with a pirated library" of characters from Star Wars, Marvel, and other franchises, treating them as "free public domain clip art."

The letter, obtained by Axios, includes examples of Seedance videos featuring copyrighted characters including Spider-Man, Darth Vader, and Peter Griffin. Despite its recent release, Seedance 2.0 has already garnered attention for its AI capabilities while drawing criticism from Hollywood studios concerned about unauthorized use of intellectual property.

This legal action follows Disney's previous complaints against Character.AI and Google for similar copyright infringement. Interestingly, Disney has simultaneously partnered with OpenAI in a three-year licensing agreement, demonstrating the company's strategy of selectively engaging with AI companies while protecting its valuable content portfolio.