Good luck using Nano Banana to fake your Disney vacation — Gemini blocks the Mouse

Source: Android Authority

Ryan Haines / Android Authority

TL;DR

• Gemini and Nano Banana block prompts that ask Google AI models to generate images of Disney characters.
• Disney sent a cease‑and‑desist letter to Google in December 2025 over the use of its copyrighted material, specifically targeting the company’s image‑generation tools.
• In December 2025 Disney signed a deal with OpenAI granting ChatGPT and Sora exclusive AI‑generation rights to its IP.

Disney and OpenAI Deal

Disney and OpenAI reached a groundbreaking deal that gave the AI company access to Disney’s intellectual property, characters, and imagery for image and video generation.

Shortly before the agreement became public on December 11, 2025, Disney sent a cease‑and‑desist letter to Google, demanding that Google “immediately cease further copying, publicly displaying, publicly performing, distributing, and creating derivative works of Disney’s copyrighted characters.”

Google responded by blocking all Disney‑related generation requests in Gemini and Nano Banana, as first reported by Deadline and confirmed by Android Authority.

Gemini’s Disney Block

Gemini now denies generating images of any Disney‑related characters or imagery. The chatbot’s response reads:

“I can’t generate the image you requested right now due to concerns from third‑party content providers. Please edit your prompt and try again.”

Gemini response screenshot

In testing, Gemini rejected both explicit and subtle requests for Disney‑owned brands and properties. It still creates images for characters not owned by Disney—for example, Nano Banana successfully generated images of Shrek, whose IP belongs to DreamWorks and NBCUniversal.

In the days following Disney’s cease‑and‑desist letter, Gemini briefly continued to generate Disney images (evidenced in chats on December 13 and December 23), but the block is now fully enforced.

Google’s Response

Around the time the letter was sent, a Google spokesperson told Ars Technica:

“We have a longstanding and mutually beneficial relationship with Disney, and will continue to engage with them. More generally, we use public data from the open web to build our AI and have built additional innovative copyright controls like Google‑extended and Content ID for YouTube, which give sites and copyright holders control over their content.”

OpenAI’s Exclusive Licensing

As of now, only OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Sora can create officially licensed images and videos using Disney characters. The three‑year licensing agreement gives OpenAI the rights to generate images for over 250 characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars properties.