ByteDance will take steps to prevent the unauthorised use of intellectual property on its AI video generator Seedance 2.0, the Chinese technology firm said on Monday, following threats of legal action from U.S. studios, including Disney.

Videos generated by Seedance 2.0, which was released last week, have gone viral in China including one of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in a fight. The AI model has been compared to DeepSeek and has been praised for its ability to produce cinematic storylines with just a few prompts.

Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance accusing the Chinese firm of using Disney characters to train and power Seedance 2.0 without permission, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters late on Sunday.

Disney said ByteDance had pre-packaged Seedance with a pirated library of copyrighted characters from franchises including Star Wars and Marvel, portraying them as if they were public-domain clip art, the person said.

The letter alleged Seedance was reproducing, distributing and creating derivative works featuring Spider-Man, Darth Vader, and other characters, the person added.

"We are taking steps to strengthen current safeguards as we work to prevent the unauthorized use of intellectual property and likeness by users," ByteDance said in its statement.

It did not elaborate on the measures it was taking.

Online news outlet Axios was the first to report on Disney's move. Paramount Skydance has also sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance, accusing the Chinese firm of engaging in "blatant infringement" of its intellectual property, Variety reported at the weekend.

Disney has taken similar actions against Character.AI, demanding that the startup immediately stop the unauthorised use of its copyrighted characters.

In December, Disney signed a licensing deal with OpenAI, letting the startup use characters from Star Wars, Pixar and Marvel franchises in its Sora video generator.

REUTERS

ByteDance pledges to prevent unauthorised IP use on AI video tool after Disney threat