ByteDance’s new AI video model has Hollywood shook: Disney and MPA threaten legal action

Legal firestorm ignites as Viral AI videos of Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Marvel Heroes Flood Social Media; "It’s a virtual smash-and-grab," says Disney,

The "honeymoon phase" for ByteDance’s groundbreaking video model, Seedance 2.0, lasted exactly 24 hours. On February 13, 2026, The Walt Disney Company and the Motion Picture Association (MPA) launched a massive legal and public relations offensive against the TikTok owner, accusing it of "wholesale theft" and "hijacking" some of the most valuable intellectual property in the world.

The catalyst? A series of hyper-realistic, viral clips, including a 15-second rooftop brawl between Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, that appeared so cinematic they sent shockwaves through Hollywood’s creative unions.

The "cease-and-desist" heard 'round the world

Disney's outside counsel, David Singer, issued a scathing letter to ByteDance, characterizing the launch of Seedance 2.0 as a "virtual smash-and-grab" of Disney's IP.

Disney claims that Seedance 2.0 wasn't just trained on the open web, but was launched with a "pre-packaged" library of copyrighted characters from Star Wars, Marvel, and Pixar, allowing users to generate infringing content as if the characters were "public domain clip art."

Viral infringement

In its first day of limited beta, the model was used to create countless videos of Darth Vader, Spider-Man, Grogu, and even a reimagined Friends scene where the cast are otters.

Likeness theft

SAG-AFTRA joined the fray, condemning the model for the unauthorized use of actors' voices and likenesses. "Seedance 2.0 disregards law, ethics, and basic principles of consent," a union spokesperson stated.

Seedance 2.0: "Hollywood is Cooked?"

Technically, Seedance 2.0 is being hailed as the "Sora-killer." Developed by the team behind Doubao (China's most popular AI assistant), the model utilizes a "quad-modal" architecture that processes text, images, video, and audio simultaneously.

The Tom Cruise vs. Brad Pitt fight, generated by filmmaker Ruairi Robinson from just a two-line prompt, featured such perfect character consistency and "film-grade" lighting that Deadpool writer Rhett Reese posted he was "shook" and feared for the future of human careers.

The "DeepSeek moment"

Chinese state media has compared the launch to the 2025 DeepSeek breakthrough, suggesting that China has now surpassed the U.S. in high-fidelity video generation.

During testing, one prominent tech blogger found that simply uploading a photo of his face caused the AI to generate a near-identical clone of his voice, leading ByteDance to "urgently suspend" the facial-reference feature.

The "OpenAI contract" conflict

The legal battle is complicated by the fact that many Hollywood giants have already chosen sides. Disney reportedly invested $1 billion in OpenAI late last year to license 200 characters for OpenAI’s Sora platform.

The MPA argues that while OpenAI has worked with studios to implement "meaningful safeguards" against copyright abuse, ByteDance has launched Seedance 2.0 with "zero guardrails," effectively encouraging piracy as a feature.

What happens next?

ByteDance has officially stated that Seedance 2.0 is intended for "professional film and advertising," but the company has not yet addressed the specific allegations of pirated training data. As the MPA represents Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros., and Universal, this is shaping up to be the "Big Tech vs Big Content" showdown of the decade.