Disney sends cease-and-desist letter to TikTok over AI tool
Disney has sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance (the company behind TikTok), accusing them of bundling "pirated" Disney, Marvel, and Family Guy characters into their new AI tool, Seedance 2.0.
Disney's lawyer called the move "willful, pervasive, and totally unacceptable," saying ByteDance is using these famous characters without any license.
Letter points to user-made videos with copyrighted icons
The letter points to user-made videos with Spider-Man, Darth Vader, Grogu, and Peter Griffin—claiming Seedance 2.0 came pre-loaded with these copyrighted icons when it was reported earlier this week (reported Friday, Feb. 13, 2026).
Disney says ByteDance is reproducing, distributing, and creating derivative works from this copyrighted material without permission.
Big names called for immediate action against infringing activity
Big names like the Motion Picture Association's CEO called for ByteDance to "immediately cease its infringing activity," and SAG-AFTRA condemned the alleged infringement.
Disney has taken legal action in the past.