Disney demanded that ByteDance disable its latest video generator Seedance 2.0, which copies Star Wars and Marvel characters.

A brief overview of the situation

Within a day after ByteDance launched its new model Seedance 2.0 for creating “cinematic‑level” videos, Disney demanded that it stop infringing on the copyrights to its characters. Hollywood as a whole supported the company’s position.

1. What Disney considered an infringement
* The subject of the claim – the use of copyright‑protected images from the Star Wars, Marvel and other franchises.

* The nature of the accusation – ByteDance, owner of TikTok, “shows” its model as a way to copy Disney’s intellectual property without permission.
Disney lawyer David Singer wrote to ByteDance’s chief legal officer John Rogovin that Seedance reproduces, distributes and creates derivative works with Disney characters without authorization.

* The key point – the discovered violations constitute only a “small part of the problem,” given that the model has been available for just a few days.
The letter cites specific examples: videos featuring Spider‑Man (Marvel), Darth Vader and Grogu (Star Wars), Peter Griffin (“The Simpsons”). Users are already actively posting such clips on social media.

2. Hollywood’s reaction
American Film Industry Association (MPA) – head Charles Rivkin called on ByteDance to cease the infringements immediately.
Human Artistry Campaign (SAG‑AFTRA, Directors Guild of America and others) urged authorities to use all legal tools to stop this practice.

3. Why Disney is reacting this way
* It’s part of a systematic effort to protect AI companies: similar letters have already been sent to Character.AI and Google, after which both companies adjusted their operations.

* Last year Disney, together with NBCUniversal, sued Midjourney, and later – together with Warner Bros. Discovery – sued the Chinese company MiniMax.

* At the same time Disney is not opposed to AI in general: it has entered a licensing agreement with OpenAI and invested $1 million in it.

Conclusion:

ByteDance, as the owner of TikTok, faced legal pressure from Disney and the industry after launching Seedance 2.0 because the model uses characters without permission. Hollywood is united around demanding that copyright infringement be stopped and all available legal measures be applied.