Sony Pictures Entertainment issued a cease and desist letter to ByteDance on Wednesday, escalating Hollywood’s protest against the Chinese company’s AI video generation platform, Seedance 2.0. The studio alleges the platform infringes on its intellectual property, specifically citing unauthorized leverage of content from “Breaking Bad” and the “Spider-Verse” films in the AI’s training data.
The move by Sony follows similar actions taken by Disney, Paramount, Warner Bros., and Netflix, all of which have sent letters to ByteDance demanding the removal of their copyrighted material from Seedance 2.0’s AI training datasets. Jill Ratner, general counsel of Sony Pictures Entertainment, stated in the letter that “Given the egregious nature of Seedance 2.0’s outputs and the complete lack of observable copyright guardrails at launch, SPE can only conclude that ByteDance’s infringements are willful.”
Seedance 2.0’s ability to generate hyper-realistic video content from text prompts has alarmed studios, who fear the platform could be used to create unauthorized derivative works and potentially undermine the value of their intellectual property. The platform has demonstrated the capability to recreate scenes from popular films and television shows, including generating alternate scenarios for established franchises like “Game of Thrones.”
ByteDance has responded to the growing concerns by stating its intention to strengthen measures to prevent copyright infringement and misuse of actors’ likenesses. However, Sony, along with other studios, has expressed dissatisfaction with these assurances, demanding more concrete and immediate action. Ratner’s letter explicitly stated that “SPE will not tolerate delayed or half-baked measures.”
The core of the dispute centers on the use of copyrighted material to train AI models. Studios argue that Seedance 2.0’s reliance on their content without permission constitutes a violation of copyright law. The platform’s ability to generate content in the style of existing works raises questions about authorship and the future of creative control in the age of artificial intelligence.
The industry’s response highlights a broader concern about the potential impact of AI on the entertainment industry. Writers, directors, and performers are increasingly questioning the long-term implications of AI-generated content and the require for stronger protections for their work. The Writers Guild of America is currently preparing for negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, with AI likely to be a central issue in the upcoming talks.
As of Thursday, ByteDance has not publicly responded to Sony’s cease and desist letter. The company has not indicated whether it will comply with the studios’ demands or what steps it will take to address the concerns raised about Seedance 2.0’s copyright practices.
