Sony Pictures has joined protests against Chinese video platform Seadance 2.0, which has united Hollywood studios in accusations of AI-based copyright infringement.
In a cease-and-desist letter sent Wednesday, the studio demanded that ByteDance immediately remove valuable intellectual property, including “Breaking Bad” and “Into the Spider-Verse” movies, from SeaDance’s AI training data.
“Given the abysmal nature of Seadance 2.0’s output and the complete lack of visible copyright guardrails at launch, SPE has no choice but to conclude that ByteDance’s infringement was willful,” Jill Ratner, general counsel for Sony Pictures Entertainment, wrote in a statement.
Sony becomes the fifth studio to file a direct protest against ByteDance, following similar letters from Disney, Paramount, Warner Bros. and Netflix. ByteDance has sought to reassure copyright holders that it will strengthen its measures to prevent copyright infringement and the misuse of actors’ likenesses, but this has not quelled the protests.
“SPE will not tolerate late or half-hearted action,” Ratner wrote. “Please contact us today to ensure effective, robust and meaningful guardrails are put in place immediately.”
SeaDance 2.0 AI clips have been circulating on social media since last week, with users using the opportunity to stage superhero fight scenes and create alternate endings for TV shows like “Game of Thrones” and “Stranger Things.”
The Motion Picture Association, which represents all five studios, as well as Amazon and Universal Studios, first issued its condemnation on February 12, with CEO Charles Rivkin calling on ByteDance to immediately stop copyright infringement.
On Wednesday, Netflix threatened “immediate legal action” if the company did not respond.
Disney, Warner Bros., and Universal have also filed lawsuits against Midjourney and MiniMax over their AI video models. Those cases are in the early stages.
MiniMax, like ByteDance, is headquartered in China, and plaintiffs have struggled to provide services to defendants. According to court filings, the studio’s lawyers were told that it could take 18 to 24 months to be served on defendants through China’s Ministry of Justice under the Hague Convention, suggesting any lawsuit against ByteDance could face similar delays.
