Netflix threatens to sue ByteDance over Seedance AI tool

Netflix Threatens ByteDance With Immediate Litigation Over Seedance AI

Netflix has issued an ultimatum to ByteDance, threatening “immediate litigation” over the company’s Seedance 2.0 AI video generator and becoming the first Hollywood studio to explicitly put legal action on the table in the escalating copyright battle.

In a cease-and-desist letter sent Tuesday, Netflix’s director of litigation Mindy LeMoine accused ByteDance of enabling mass copyright infringement involving some of the streamer’s most valuable properties, including Stranger Things, Squid Game, Bridgerton, and the animated musical KPop Demon Hunters.theverge

“Seedance acts as a high-speed piracy engine, generating mass quantities of unauthorized derivative works utilizing Netflix’s iconic characters, worlds, and scripted narratives,” LeMoine wrote, according to Variety. “Netflix will not stand by and watch ByteDance treat our valued IP as free, public domain clip art.”variety

Studios Unite Against ByteDance

Netflix joins Disney, Paramount, and Warner Bros. Discovery in issuing cease-and-desist letters to ByteDance since Seedance 2.0 launched on February 12. The Motion Picture Association has also condemned the tool for engaging in “unauthorized exploitation of U.S. copyrighted works on a vast scale”.nbcnews

The Netflix letter cited specific instances of alleged infringement, including unauthorized depictions of Bridgerton Season 4 costumes in masquerade ball settings and reproductions of the Stranger Things cast alongside monsters from the series, including Demogorgons and the Mind Flayer. Netflix also accused ByteDance of promoting infringing Bridgerton content through its official @BytePlusGlobal social media account.yahoo

What sets Netflix’s approach apart is its explicit effort to preempt a potential fair use defense from ByteDance. “Use of copyrighted works to create a competing commercial product, especially one that regurgitates the original, is not protected by fair use,” the letter states.variety

ByteDance’s Safeguards Deemed Insufficient

ByteDance pledged Monday to strengthen safeguards on Seedance 2.0 to prevent unauthorized use of intellectual property following the initial barrage of studio complaints. The company told the BBC it “respects intellectual property rights” and is “taking steps to strengthen current safeguards”.variety

However, those assurances have failed to satisfy Hollywood. Warner Bros. Discovery’s legal head Wayne M. Smith addressed his cease-and-desist letter directly to ByteDance’s Global General Counsel John Rogovin, making pointed reference to Rogovin’s former career protecting Warner Bros.’ intellectual property.deadline

ByteDance has been given three days to respond to Netflix’s demands, which include establishing technological barriers to prevent Seedance from generating content using Netflix’s characters and removing all Netflix-owned content from training datasets.theverge

The actors’ union SAG-AFTRA has also condemned Seedance 2.0 for “blatant infringement” involving “unauthorized use of our members’ voices and likenesses”, while Japan’s government has opened a copyright infringement investigation into ByteDance after AI-generated anime videos went viral.upi