Disney forces Chinese AI tool to bow to copyright law
Disney calls it virtual piracy and forces the tech giant to back down. What does this mean for the future of creative AI?
Published on February 16, 2026
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The honeymoon period of generative video appears to be over. Disney has initiated a legal dispute with TikTok’s parent company ByteDance over the AI video generator Seedance 2.0. According to Disney, the tool was trained using unauthorized use of their intellectual property. As a result, recognizable Disney characters appeared in user-generated videos without a license or permission.
Disney claims these are not incidental similarities. Disney attorney David Singer called the use “intentional, pervasive, and completely unacceptable,” and compared it to treating Disney property as “free public domain clip art” in a BBC article.
In a letter, Disney even described the use of protected intellectual property without permission as a virtual looting. The company is therefore demanding that the use of this content stop and that the model’s training data be adjusted. The case between Disney and ByteDance makes clear that licensing and control over ownership are becoming extremely important.
Seedance 2.0: technical marvel, legal nightmare
Seedance 2.0 was launched around February 10, 2026, and quickly attracted attention due to its technical advances. The tool can generate realistic videos, complete with different camera angles and lighting. This makes it possible to produce complex video footage using simple text input. As a result, the technology lowers the technical and financial barriers to creating convincing videos that imitate existing characters, actors, or styles.
ByteDance on the defensive
Following the complaint, ByteDance told the BBC that it respects intellectual property and is taking measures to limit misuse. In practice, some features were temporarily disabled, including the ability to upload faces of real people as reference material.
The company has not provided full details about structural changes to the model or its training data.
A broad front against AI infringement
Disney is not alone in this approach. The Motion Picture Association (MPA), which represents major studios such as Warner Bros., Paramount, and Netflix, has called on ByteDance to immediately stop the infringements.
Paramount Skydance, industry organizations, and unions such as SAG-AFTRA have also expressed concerns about AI systems that may have been trained on protected content without permission. They warn about the impact on creative control, revenue, and employment within the entertainment industry.
In addition to the United States, the Japanese government has also launched an investigation into ByteDance. This follows the appearance online of videos featuring popular Japanese anime characters produced by Seedance 2.0.
AI as an opportunity, if licensed
Disney is no stranger to defending its copyrights. In the past, the company sued Google over AI videos featuring Disney characters. In 2025, Disney also filed a lawsuit together with NBC Universal and Warner Bros. against the AI image generator Midjourney.
At the same time, Disney does not position itself entirely as an opponent of AI technology. The company works with OpenAI through licensed agreements, where the use of content is contractually regulated.
Shift in the AI sector
The case marks a broader shift in the AI sector. Where models were previously often developed with unrestricted access to online data, the focus is now shifting toward licensing and legal control. For technology companies, this means that access to high-quality training data is increasingly dependent on formal agreements with rights holders.