Hollywood isn’t happy about the new Seedance 2.0 video generator

Source: TechCrunch

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) by entering a text prompt. Like Sora, Seedance quickly drew criticism for an apparent lack of guardrails around the ability to create videos using the likeness of real people and studios’ intellectual property.

After one X user posted a brief video showing Tom Cruise fighting Brad Pitt—claimed to be created with “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 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. 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.”

Industry response

• The Human Artistry Campaign—an initiative backed by Hollywood unions and trade groups—condemned Seedance 2.0 as “an attack on creators around the world.”
• 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.”

Legal actions

Seedance videos have featured Disney‑owned characters such as Spider‑Man, Darth Vader, and Grogu (Baby Yoda), prompting Disney to send a cease‑and‑desist letter accusing ByteDance of a “virtual smash‑and‑grab of Disney’s IP.”

“Hijacking Disney’s characters by reproducing, distributing, and creating derivative works featuring those characters,” the letter claimed.
Source: Axios

Disney is not uniformly opposed to AI collaborations; it has previously sent a cease‑and‑desist letter to Google over similar issues while signing a three‑year licensing deal with OpenAI.

Paramount followed suit, sending ByteDance a cease‑and‑desist letter stating that “much of the content that the Seed platforms produce contains vivid depictions of Paramount’s famous and iconic franchises and characters” that are “often indistinguishable, both visually and audibly” from Paramount’s films and TV shows.
Source: Variety

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.