ByteDance AI video tool Seedance accused by Disney of copyright ‘smash and grab’

South China Morning PostCenter-RightEN 1 min read 100% complete by Vincent ChowFebruary 15, 2026 at 10:07 AM

AI Summary

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ByteDance's AI video tool, Seedance 2.0, is facing accusations of copyright infringement after users generated videos featuring copyrighted characters. Disney sent ByteDance a cease-and-desist letter, alleging a "virtual smash-and-grab" of its intellectual property due to Seedance's ability to create videos of Disney-owned characters. Hollywood bodies, including SAG-AFTRA and the Motion Picture Association, have also criticized the tool, with SAG-AFTRA calling it a "blatant infringement." ByteDance stated they respect intellectual property rights and are working to strengthen safeguards to prevent unauthorized use of IP and likenesses. This follows a similar cease-and-desist letter Disney sent to Google in December regarding AI-generated Disney characters.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

Star Wars 35% Marvel 35% Charles Rivkin 40% Google 40% South China Morning Post ×240% SAG-AFTRA 50% Motion Picture Association 50% TikTok 60% Seedance 2.0 ×375% Disney ×585% ByteDance ×690%

Keywords

bytedance 100% copyright infringement 90% intellectual property 90% artificial intelligence 80% seedance 2.0 80% disney 80% video generation 70% cease and desist 70% safeguards 60% unauthorized use 50%

Sentiment Analysis

Negative

Score: -0.40

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South China Morning Post

Political Lean

Center-Right (0.50)

Far LeftCenterFar Right

Classification Confidence

90%

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis. The political bias score ranges from -1 (far left) to +1 (far right).

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bytedance copyright infringement intellectual property artificial intelligence seedance 2.0 disney video generation cease and desist safeguards unauthorized use

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