After AI Video of ‘Tom Cruise’ Fighting ‘Brad Pitt’ Goes Viral, Motion Picture Association Denounces ‘Massive’ Infringement on Seedance 2.0
The Motion Picture Association on Thursday denounced the newest AI video generator, 2.0, saying it had unleashed a flood of copyright infringement in the day since it became available.
, the Chinese owner of TikTok, said the model represents a “substantial leap in generation quality” since the previous version. Videos generated by the service – notably one of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt fighting on a rooftop — have gone viral on social media platforms.
“In a single day, the Chinese AI service Seedance 2.0 has engaged in unauthorized use of U.S. copyrighted works on a massive scale,” an MPA spokesperson said in a statement. “By launching a service that operates without meaningful safeguards against infringement, ByteDance is disregarding well-established copyright law that protects the rights of creators and underpins millions of American jobs. ByteDance should immediately cease its infringing activity.”
The trade association made a similar comment after OpenAI released Sora 2 last fall, which also generated a glut of AI-enabled copyright infringement.
“OpenAI needs to take immediate and decisive action to address this issue,” the MPA said at the time. “Well-established copyright law safeguards the rights of creators and applies here.”
OpenAI was responsive to those concerns, implementing safeguards that made it much more difficult for users to violate studio copyrights. Disney later made a deal with OpenAI to license 200 characters for use on Sora 2, which was seen by many as a potential template for other studios to follow.
But it is not clear whether ByteDance would be open to that approach, or whether copyright owners will be compelled to start filing takedown notices and infringement suits. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Some reacted to the Seedance videos with doom and resignation.
“I hate to say it. It’s likely over for us,” wrote Rhett Reese, writer of the “Deadpool” films, in a comment on the Cruise-Pitt video. “In next to no time, one person is going to be able to sit at a computer and create a movie indistinguishable from what Hollywood now releases.”
The video was generated by Ruairi Robinson, an Irish film and commercial maker.
“This was a 2 line prompt in seedance 2,” he wrote on X. “If the hollywood is cooked guys are right maybe the hollywood is cooked guys are cooked too idk.”
In response to backlash over the video, he wrote: “Today’s question is: should i be killed for typing 2 lines and pressing a button.”
Other Seedance videos circulating online include riffs on “Spider Man,” “Titanic,” “Stranger Things,” “Lord of the Rings,” “Shrek,” and more.
