Warner Bros. has sent a legal letter to ByteDance, accusing the Chinese company of facilitating copyright infringement through its new AI video service, Seedance 2.0. The studio claims the platform allows users to generate videos featuring iconic characters like Superman and Batman without authorisation.
The letter, addressed to ByteDance general counsel John Rogovin—a former Warner Bros. legal executive—highlights the irony of Rogovin now overseeing a service that infringes on properties he once defended. Warner Bros. executive vice president of legal Wayne Smith wrote that these characters are “the lifeblood of the company” and accused ByteDance of “blatant infringement.”
Seedance 2.0, released last week, quickly led to social media posts showing AI-generated clips of characters from Warner Bros. franchises, including “Harry Potter,” “The Matrix,” and “Game of Thrones.” The Motion Picture Association and SAG-AFTRA have also condemned the platform, while Disney and Paramount sent cease-and-desist letters.
ByteDance has pledged to add safeguards to prevent unauthorised use of intellectual property. However, Warner Bros. argues that the infringement stems from ByteDance’s design choice to include copyrighted characters in Seedance’s training data, not just user prompts. The studio demands ByteDance cease training on its characters and implement effective guardrails.
