Hollywood studios escalate dispute over ByteDance’s ‘pervasive copyright infringement’ with its AI tools; Los Angeles Times, February 23, 2026

Cerys Davies, Los Angeles Times; Hollywood studios escalate dispute over ByteDance’s ‘pervasive copyright infringement’ with its AI tools

"Following the lead of several major Hollywood studios, the Motion Picture Assn. has sent its own cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance, the company behind the controversial artificial-intelligence video generator Seedance 2.0.

The trade association, which represents the interests of major film and TV studios, sent a notice to the Chinese company, reflecting its members’ collective response to “ByteDance’s pervasive copyright infringement.” MPA argues that Seedance’s unauthorized use of copyrighted materials is a “feature, not a bug.” 

The letter, sent Friday, marks the first time the MPA has forwarded a cease-and-desist to a major AI firm and represents a further escalation of tensions between the entertainment industry and an AI company."

Hollywood's copyright fight meets China's AI boom; Axios, February 19, 2026

Madison Mills, Sara Fischer, Axios; Hollywood's copyright fight meets China's AI boom

"The big picture: Hollywood is leaning on copyright law to rein in Seedance, but legal pressure hasn't slowed the rise of Chinese AI models more broadly."

Why an A.I. Video of Tom Cruise Battling Brad Pitt Spooked Hollywood; The New York Times, February 16, 2026

Derrick Bryson Taylor, The New York Times; Why an A.I. Video of Tom Cruise Battling Brad Pitt Spooked Hollywood

 "Charles Rivkin, the chairman and chief executive of the Motion Picture Association, called on ByteDance to “immediately cease its infringing activity,” saying in a statement that Seedance 2.0 had engaged in the unauthorized use of copyrighted works on a “massive scale.” Human Artistry Campaign, a global coalition that advocates using A.I. “with respect for the irreplaceable artists, performers and creatives,” said on social media that unauthorized works generated by Seedance 2.0 violated the “most basic aspects of personal autonomy.”

Disney, which in a watershed $1 billion deal last year agreed to allow OpenAI’s Sora users to generate video content with its characters, sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance, accusing it of supplying Seedance with a “pirated library” of Disney’s characters — “as if Disney’s coveted intellectual property were free public-domain clip art.”

ByteDance, which also owns TikTok and has been valued at $480 billion in the private markets, said in a statement that it respected intellectual property rights and was aware of the concerns about Seedance."

ByteDance says it will add safeguards to Seedance 2.0 following Hollywood backlash; CNBC, February 16, 2026

Dylan Butts, CNBC; ByteDance says it will add safeguards to Seedance 2.0 following Hollywood backlash

"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."

Scoop: Disney sends cease and desist letter to ByteDance over Seedance 2.0; Axios, February 13, 2026

Sara Fischer, Axios ; Scoop: Disney sends cease and desist letter to ByteDance over Seedance 2.0

"The Walt Disney Company on Friday sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance, alleging the Chinese tech giant has been infringing on its works to train and develop an AI video generation model without compensation, according to a copy of the letter obtained by Axios.

Why it matters: It's the most serious action a Hollywood studio has taken so far against ByteDance since it launched Seedance 2.0 on Thursday. 

Zoom in: The letter, addressed to ByteDance global general counsel John Rogovin, accuses ByteDance of pre-packaging its Seedance service "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." 

"Over Disney's well-publicized objections, ByteDance is hijacking Disney's characters by reproducing, distributing, and creating derivative works featuring those characters. ByteDance's virtual smash-and-grab of Disney's IP is willful, pervasive, and totally unacceptable," Disney's outside attorney David Singer wrote. 

"We believe this is just the tip of the iceberg – which is shocking considering Seedance has only been available for a few days," he added.

Between the lines: The letter includes a slew of examples of infringing Seedance videos that feature Disney's copyrighted characters, including Spider-Man, Darth Vader, Star Wars' Grogu (Baby Yoda), Peter Griffin from Family Guy and others."

MPA Calls On TikTok Owner ByteDance To Curb New AI Model That Created Tom Cruise Vs. Brad Pitt Deepfake; Deadline, February 12, 2026

Ted Johnson , Deadline; MPA Calls On TikTok Owner ByteDance To Curb New AI Model That Created Tom Cruise Vs. Brad Pitt Deepfake

"As reported by Deadline’s Jake Kanter, Seedance 2.0 users are prompting the Chinese AI tool to create videos that appear to be repurposing, with startling accuracy, copyrighted material from studios, including Disney, Warner Bros Discovery and Paramount. In addition to the Cruise vs. Pitt fight, the model has produced remixes of Avengers: Endgame and a Friends scene in which Rachel and Joey are played by otters."