- Netflix condemned the use of its IP in Seedance 2.0
- Characters from many Netflix-owned properties have recently appeared in AI-generated videos
- Disney, Warner Bros and Paramount have also denounced ByteDance for similar incidents.
Netflix has joined the chorus of dissenting voices over the use of its intellectual property (IP) in videos created by Seedance 2.0.
Yesterday (February 17), Netflix sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance, owner of the artificial intelligence (AI) video generator, and threatened legal action if ByteDance did not stop treating “our valuable intellectual property as free public domain clip art.”
Netflix’s warning comes as characters from some of its most popular franchises are used in recent videos created by Seedance 2.0, including characters from Stranger Things, Demon Hunters KpopAnd The Bridgerton Chronicles.
The reconstruction of the life-threatening games seen in Squid game — video shows controversial Tesla founder Elon Musk inserted into one of the games’ deadly challenges (by Deadline) – was also mentioned in Netflix’s two-page correspondence.
For the uninitiated: Seedance is a generative AI video maker that allows users to create near-realistic footage from just a few short text prompts.
AI-generated video of Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise fighting on a rooftop goes viral, with people saying the AI is becoming too realistic pic.twitter.com/SHK4u0iLVaFebruary 11, 2026
It wasn’t until ByteDance, which also owns the hugely popular short video app TikTok, launched version 2.0 of its generative AI tool on February 12 that it became a hot topic of discussion. Indeed, the emergence of a video made with Seedance 2.0, which shows Hollywood stars Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise fighting on a bridge, went viral 24 hours before the latest update of the program went online.
Unsurprisingly, the images immediately aroused the concern of many Hollywood studios, in particular. In the days since the aforementioned video appeared online, others have also gained traction, with users filling AI-created videos with characters from Marvel and Star Wars (both owned by Disney), superheroes from DC Comics including Superman and Batman (Warner Bros.), and characters from various Paramount properties.
Wolverine vs Superman fight sequence 🚨Where the Marvel Universe collided with the DC Universe 🥶😳💥Seedance 2.0 was crazy 📈#SpiderManBrandNewDay #AvengersDoomsday pic.twitter.com/YmI8WrGmkhFebruary 15, 2026
Furious executives at Disney, Warner Bros. and Paramount have already condemned ByteDance for “blatant copyright infringement” and conducting a “virtual smash-and-grab” of their IP addresses in their own fiery cease-and-desist letters. Meanwhile, the Screen Actors Guild of America (SAG-AFTRA) also called the use of Cruise and Pitt’s image in the aforementioned Seedance video “unacceptable.”
However, with Netflix entering the fray – one of the world’s top streaming services says it “won’t stand by and watch” Seedance use its copyrighted materials – the pressure on ByteDance has only increased in magnitude. Will companies like Amazon, Apple and NBCUniversal eventually join their fellow entertainment giants? If any of their IP addresses are used in the same way, absolutely.
For what it’s worth, the Chinese company said it would take steps to protect the biggest franchises from American studios. In a statement shared with Deadline on February 16, a spokesperson said: “[ByteDance] respects intellectual property rights and we have heard the concerns about Seedance 2.0. We are taking steps to strengthen current protections as we work to prevent unauthorized use of intellectual property and images by users. »
The furore around Seedance 2.0 comes amid the continued and largely unregulated use of generative AI models to do, well, whatever a user wants. Hollywood companies have taken on other similarly marketed programs, including OpenAI’s Sora 2, while governments around the world have found themselves struggling over how to manage these AI tools and, where possible, fast-track new laws to limit how they can be used.
However, with studios like Disney entering into three-year licensing deals with tools like Sora 2, which will allow fans to create short-form videos featuring their favorite Disney characters, the use of AI tools like Seedance 2.0 will continue to operate in a gray area. That is, until governments, businesses and everyday users figure out how best to use them – and how to respond when they are used inappropriately.
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