“Today’s agreement illustrates our belief that copyright is a cornerstone of the film and television industry – and reinforces our commitment to protect creative content,” said MPA Chairman and Chief Executive Charles Rivkin.
Neither side disclosed the specific protections covered by the agreement.
The deal follows a dispute that escalated in February, when the MPA sent ByteDance a cease-and-desist letter over Seedance 2.0. The association alleged that the AI model had been trained using copyrighted works and could produce material involving protected characters and imagery without authorization from studios.
Among the examples cited by the MPA were videos featuring “SpongeBob SquarePants” characters and imagery resembling a scene from the science-fiction series “Stranger Things.” The action marked the association’s first cease-and-desist demand directed at a major AI company. “ByteDance is engaged in pervasive and widespread infringement of our members’ valuable intellectual property that it must stop immediately,” MPA global general counsel Karyn Temple wrote in a Feb. 20 letter to ByteDance global general counsel John Rogovin.
ByteDance responded at the time by saying it was working to improve safeguards designed to block unauthorized uses of intellectual property and likenesses. The company has since introduced Seedream 5.0 Pro and Seedance 2.5. In announcing the agreement, ByteDance and the MPA said those newer products demonstrate “ByteDance’s continued advances in IP protections.”
“ByteDance respects the intellectual property rights that underpin creative industries around the world, and we believe responsible innovation in AI goes hand in hand with meaningful protections for rightsholders,” Rogovin said in the statement.
The agreement arrives as studios continue to challenge the use of copyrighted works in the development and output of generative AI systems. Some entertainment companies have raised objections to models being trained on their material without authorization or payment, while AI developers are simultaneously pursuing partnerships with studios.
Seedance has also gained traction among some independent filmmakers, who have found it less expensive than competing tools. That demand has intensified competition among AI companies seeking customers and entertainment-industry relationships, even as copyright protections remain a central point of conflict between technology developers and Hollywood.
This analysis is based on reporting from Los Angeles Times.
Image courtesy of Unsplash.
This article was generated with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy and quality.
