By Kayla DeKraker
Seedance 2.0, a new AI video tool from TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance, is receiving criticism because it allows users to create videos using licensed characters and real people, which legislators say is a problem.
Senators Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Peter Welch, D-Vt., have asked the company to shut the app down right away. They say it could break copyright laws and harm people who create movies, music and other content. Because of this, ByteDance has postponed releasing the app.
“Within the first 24 hours of Seedance 2.0 — an advanced AI video generation model — going live on February 12th, social media users had already used the platform to generate a brawl between Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt that never happened; they had rewritten the ending of STRANGER THINGS; and they had staged a battle between Thanos and Superman on the surface of Mars,” the senators wrote in a letter to ByteDance.
They added, “These were not obscure experiments — they were viral moments, racking up millions of views and celebrating, openly and enthusiastically, the theft of American creative work.”
Related: Former TikTok Employee Claims Company ‘Lying to Congress’ About ByteDance’s Involvement
The letter also notes that Seedance 2.0 “poses a direct threat to the American intellectual property system and, more broadly, to the constitutional rights and economic livelihoods of our creative community. The reckless way that Seedance 2.0 was released without any regard for the rights of creators has been rightly denounced by multiple creative community stakeholders and experts.”
In a statement, ByteDance defended themselves, saying, “ByteDance respects intellectual property rights and we have heard the concerns regarding Seedance 2.0. We are taking steps to strengthen current safeguards as we work to prevent the unauthorized use of intellectual property and likeness by users.”
Several Hollywood Studios have also threatened action against ByteDance, including Disney, which sent a cease-and-desist letter to the company to prevent them from using Disney characters in the future.
Others sounded off against the tool, which uses text prompts to create videos.
The Motion Picture Association demanded Seedance 2.0 “immediately cease its infringing activity,” while the actors’ union, SAG-AFTRA, accused it of “blatant infringement,” per the BBC.
CNBC reported that while most legislators have taken a “hands-off” approach to rising AI technologies, “Blackburn and Welch have introduced targeted bills on AI. In August, the duo unveiled a bill to help artists protect their copyrighted works from being used to train AI.”
The push to shut down Seedance 2.0 shows how important it is to create clear rules for AI-generated content that protect both viewers and creators.
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