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Hollywood organizations are pushing back against a new AI video model called Seedance 2.0, which they say has quickly become a tool for “blatant” copyright infringement.
ByteDance, the Chinese company that recently finalized a deal to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations (it retains a stake in the new joint venture), launched Seedance 2.0 earlier this week. According to the Wall Street Journal, the updated model is currently available to Chinese users of ByteDance’s Jianying app, and the company says it will soon be available to global users of its CapCut app.
Similar to tools such as OpenAI’s Sora, Seedance allows users to create videos (currently limited to 15 seconds in length) by just entering a text prompt. And like Sora, Seedance quickly drew criticism for an apparent lack of guardrails around the ability to create videos using the likeness of real people, as well as studios’ intellectual property.
After one X user posted a brief video showing Tom Cruise fighting Brad Pitt, which they said was created by “a 2 line prompt in seedance 2,” “Deadpool” screenwriter Rhett Reese responded, “I hate to say it. It’s likely over for us.”
The Motion Picture Association soon issued a statement from CEO Charles Rivkin demanding that ByteDance “immediately cease its infringing activity.”
“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,” Rivkin said. “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.”
The Human Artistry Campaign — an initiative backed by Hollywood unions and trade groups — condemned Seedance 2.0 as “an attack on every creator around the world,” while the actors’ union SAG-AFTRA said it “stands with the studios in condemning the blatant infringement enabled by Bytedance’s new AI video model Seedance 2.0.”
Seedance videos have apparently featured Disney-owned characters such as Spider-Man, Darth Vader, and Grogu, better known as Baby Yoda, prompting the company to take legal action. Axios reports that Disney has sent a cease-and-desist letter accusing ByteDance of a “virtual smash-and-grab of Disney’s IP” and claiming the Chinese company is “hijacking Disney’s characters by reproducing, distributing, and creating derivative works featuring those characters.”
Disney isn’t necessarily opposed to working with AI companies — while it has reportedly sent a cease-and-desist letter to Google over similar issues, it has signed a three-year licensing deal with OpenAI.
Variety reports that Paramount followed suit by sending ByteDance a cease-and-desist letter on Saturday. The letter claimed that “much of the content that the Seed Platforms produce contains vivid depictions of Paramount’s famous and iconic franchises and characters” and that this content “is often indistinguishable, both visually and audibly” from Paramount’s films and TV shows.
TechCrunch has reached out to ByteDance for comment.
This post was originally published on February 14, 2026. It has been updated to include information about Paramount’s cease-and-desist letter.
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Anthony Ha is TechCrunch’s weekend editor. Previously, he worked as a tech reporter at Adweek, a senior editor at VentureBeat, a local government reporter at the Hollister Free Lance, and vice president of content at a VC firm. He lives in New York City.
You can contact or verify outreach from Anthony by emailing anthony.ha@techcrunch.com.
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