Hollywood’s major entertainment organizations are launching a fierce backlash against a new AI video generation tool called Seedance 2.0, developed by Chinese tech giant ByteDance. The tool, which is currently available to users of ByteDance’s Jianying app in China and set to roll out globally via its CapCut platform, allows users to generate short videos—up to 15 seconds—simply by typing a text prompt. Like OpenAI’s Sora, Seedance 2.0 can produce highly realistic video content, but it has quickly drawn condemnation for enabling widespread copyright infringement with minimal safeguards. Within days of its release, Seedance 2.0 was used to generate videos featuring real celebrities and copyrighted intellectual property without authorization. One viral example showed a fictional fight scene between Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, created with just a two-line prompt. The clip prompted “Deadpool” screenwriter Rhett Reese to comment, “I hate to say it. It’s likely over for us,” signaling deep concern among creators about the future of original storytelling. The Motion Picture Association (MPA), led by CEO Charles Rivkin, issued a strong statement demanding ByteDance halt its infringing activities. Rivkin accused the company of “massive-scale” unauthorized use of U.S. copyrighted works, calling the launch of Seedance 2.0 a disregard for copyright law that protects millions of American jobs. He emphasized that the service operates without meaningful guardrails to prevent the misuse of characters, scenes, and other protected content. The Human Artistry Campaign, a coalition of Hollywood unions and trade groups, labeled Seedance 2.0 an “attack on creators worldwide.” SAG-AFTRA echoed this sentiment, stating it stands with studios in condemning the “blatant infringement” enabled by the AI model. The union highlighted the threat to actors’ rights, particularly the unauthorized use of their likenesses in AI-generated content. The controversy intensified when videos generated by Seedance 2.0 featured iconic characters from Disney’s universe—Spider-Man, Darth Vader, and Grogu (Baby Yoda)—prompting Disney to send a cease-and-desist letter. The company accused ByteDance of a “virtual smash-and-grab” of its intellectual property, claiming the AI tool reproduces, distributes, and creates derivative works of its characters without permission. Notably, Disney is not opposed to AI in principle; it has previously signed a three-year licensing deal with OpenAI and sent a similar cease-and-desist to Google over AI-related concerns. Paramount followed suit, issuing its own cease-and-desist letter, alleging that Seedance-generated content often replicates Paramount’s most famous franchises and characters with such fidelity that it is “indistinguishable, both visually and audibly” from original films and TV shows. While ByteDance has not publicly responded to the allegations, the backlash underscores growing global anxiety about AI’s role in content creation. Unlike some AI developers that have pursued licensing deals or built content filters, Seedance 2.0 appears to lack robust mechanisms to prevent misuse of copyrighted material. This has raised alarms among creators, studios, and unions who fear the unchecked proliferation of AI-generated content could devalue original work and undermine creative livelihoods. The situation highlights a critical moment in the ongoing battle over AI and intellectual property. As tools like Seedance 2.0 become more accessible, the legal and ethical boundaries of AI training and output remain uncharted. With major studios and unions uniting in opposition, the pressure on ByteDance—and the broader AI industry—to implement stronger safeguards is mounting. The outcome could shape how AI is regulated in creative industries for years to come.