Hollywood Accuses ByteDance’s Seedance 2.0 of Massive Copyright Infringement
Hollywood’s Motion Picture Association has accused Chinese tech giant ByteDance of large-scale copyright violations linked to its new AI video tool, Seedance 2.0. The dispute follows the circulation of highly realistic AI-generated clips resembling Hollywood actors and characters.
The United States Motion Picture Association (MPA) has accused Chinese technology company ByteDance of engaging in what it describes as massive copyright infringement through its artificial intelligence video generator, Seedance 2.0.
According to Channel NewsAsia (CNA), the MPA alleged that Seedance 2.0 made “unauthorised use of US copyrighted works on a massive scale” after lifelike AI-generated video clips featuring Hollywood-style actors began circulating widely on social media.
Seedance 2.0 was developed by ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok. According to CNA, the AI tool can generate cinematic scenes from short text prompts and combine text, images, audio and video into high-quality productions.
The MPA, which represents major studios including Disney, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. and Netflix, said the platform operates without adequate safeguards to prevent copyright violations.
According to CNA, MPA Chairman Charles Rivkin said ByteDance’s AI system “operates without meaningful safeguards against infringement” and should immediately cease infringing activities. He further stated that copyright protections underpin millions of jobs in the American creative industry.
CNA further reported that although Seedance 2.0 is currently available only as a limited test version in China, AI-generated clips resembling well-known Hollywood actors, including fabricated scenes such as a fight between Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, have already gone viral online.
The controversy comes at a time when generative AI tools are expanding rapidly. According to CNA, video-generation models like Seedance 2.0 represent the next frontier beyond text-based systems such as ChatGPT and China’s DeepSeek R1.
ByteDance said during the product launch that Seedance 2.0 was designed for professional film, advertising and e-commerce use, and that it reduces the cost of content production, CNA reported.
So far, ByteDance has not indicated that it will suspend the tool. The dispute highlights growing global concerns over artificial intelligence, copyright protection and the future of creative industries.
Further developments are expected as the entertainment industry continues to press for stronger safeguards in AI systems.
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