[Source: BBC]

Major US studios have demanded that a powerful new AI video tool, launched by TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance, must “immediately cease” infringing copyright with its clips based on existing films and shows.

Many of the clips are based on real actors, TV shows and films, and the Motion Picture Association told the BBC: “In a single day, the Chinese AI service Seedance 2.0 has engaged in unauthorised use of US copyrighted works on a massive scale.”

The MPA represents the major US studios – Netflix, Paramount Pictures, Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios, Sony Pictures, Universal Studios, The Walt Disney Studios and Warner Bros Discovery.

According to ByteDance, the product has already suspended the ability for people to upload images of real people, and it respects intellectual property rights and copyright protections, and takes any potential infringement seriously.

The content referenced was created as part of a limited pre-launch testing phase, it said.

The AI tool can quickly make highly realistic clips from a short, simple text prompt, such as a fist fight between Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, Will Smith battling a red-eyed spaghetti monster or even Friends characters reimagined as otters.

The MPA’s chairman and CEO, Charles 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.

“ByteDance should immediately cease its infringing activity.”

According to ByteDance, steps are being taken to further address risks, and it will implement robust policies, monitoring mechanisms and processes to ensure compliance with local regulations.

The clips have been flooding social media, and users have also been posting scenes based on shows and films like The Lord of the Rings, Seinfeld, Avengers and Breaking Bad.

ByteDance has billed its new AI tool as delivering “an ultra-realistic immersive experience”.

It immediately set alarm bells ringing in Hollywood and beyond, with Deadpool writer Rhett Reese warning: “I hate to say it. It’s likely over for us.”

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