Mumbai: Paramount Skydance has issued a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance, alleging that the company’s Seedance video and Seedream image generative AI platforms are engaging in “blatant infringement” of its intellectual property.
According to a copy of the letter obtained by Variety, Paramount Skydance has demanded that ByteDance immediately halt the alleged unauthorized use of its copyrighted franchises and characters. The letter, sent Saturday by Gabriel Miller, the studio’s head of intellectual property, was addressed to ByteDance CEO Liang Rubo.
The action follows a similar move by The Walt Disney Company, which sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance a day earlier. Disney alleged that the AI platforms were distributing “a pirated library” of copyrighted characters from major franchises including Star Wars and Marvel Cinematic Universe, among others.
Paramount Skydance claims that Seedance-generated content includes vivid depictions of well-known properties such as South Park, SpongeBob SquarePants, Star Trek, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Godfather, Dora the Explorer and Avatar: The Last Airbender. The studio alleged that AI-generated images and videos produced by ByteDance’s platforms are “often indistinguishable, both visually and audibly,” from its copyrighted characters and stories.
The controversy intensified after videos generated using Seedance 2.0 went viral online, including clips depicting actors such as Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in fabricated scenarios. The Motion Picture Association condemned ByteDance’s alleged conduct, while SAG-AFTRA and the Human Artistry Campaign — a coalition of artists’ rights groups — also voiced concerns over the implications for performers and rights holders.
In response, a ByteDance spokesperson said: “ByteDance respects intellectual property rights and we have heard the concerns regarding Seedance 2.0. We are taking steps to strengthen current safeguards as we work to prevent the unauthorized use of intellectual property and likeness by users.”
Paramount Skydance’s letter demands that ByteDance “immediately take all necessary steps” to prevent further violations, ensure its content is not used or recreated by the Seed platforms going forward, and remove all allegedly infringing material from its systems.
The dispute underscores escalating tensions between Hollywood studios and generative AI developers, as media companies push to protect valuable intellectual property amid the rapid proliferation of AI-powered content creation tools.
