Hollywood strikes first AI copyright truce with ByteDance - LA Times

The Douyin Group in Beijing operates TikTok and its Chinese version. (Ichiro Ohara / Associated Press) By Wendy Lee Staff Writer Follow Aug. 17, 2026 6 AM PT 3 min Click here to listen to this article Share via Close extra sharing options Email Facebook X LinkedIn Threads Reddit WhatsApp Copy Link URL Copied! Print 0:00 0:00 1x This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here . See more from the L.A. Times in Google Search. Set us as preferred The Motion Picture Assn. has struck its first agreement with an artificial intelligence company, saying Monday that ByteDance has strengthened copyright guardrails into its AI video and image tools that drew legal threats from every major Hollywood studio in February. ByteDance, a Chinese company, is the former majority owner of TikTok’s U.S. operations. The MPA, the trade association that lobbies for major studios such as Disney, Netflix and Sony Pictures Entertainment, said it has had constructive engagement with ByteDance over the last several months to rein in Seedance, a text-to-video generation tool, and Seedream, which produces images using text commands. “Today’s agreement illustrates our belief that copyright is a cornerstone of the film and television industry – and reinforces our commitment to protect creative content,” said MPA Chairman and Chief Executive Charles Rivkin. Advertisement MPA declined to share the specific guardrails in the agreement. Business China-backed AI tool behind fake Brad Pitt fight making Hollywood inroads The former majority owner of TikTok has quietly continued to court filmmakers, independent artists and executives who are eager to learn more about the AI video generation model called Seedance. June 9, 2026 The agreement comes as some studios have expressed concerns about AI models training on their copyrighted material without permission or compensation. In February, MPA issued a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance, alleging Seedance 2.0 was trained on copyrighted material and generating unauthorized videos featuring characters such as “SpongeBob SquarePants” and visuals replicating a scene from sci-fi series “Stranger Things” without studios’ permission. It was the first time the MPA had filed a cease-and-desist letter to a major AI firm. “ByteDance is engaged in pervasive and widespread infringement of our members’ valuable intellectual property that it must stop immediately,” MPA’s global general counsel Karyn Temple wrote in a Feb. 20 letter to ByteDance’s global general counsel John Rogovin. ByteDance in response said it was taking steps to strengthen its safeguards to prevent unauthorized use of IP or likeness. Advertisement Since then, ByteDance has released Seedream 5.0 Pro and Seedance 2.5, which reflect “ByteDance’s continued advances in IP protections,” the tech company and MPA said in a news release. Business Hollywood fights AI in public while quietly building it into movies Job postings reveal studios are quietly adopting AI. July 27, 2026 “ByteDance respects the intellectual property rights that underpin creative industries around the world, and we believe responsible innovation in AI goes hand in hand with meaningful protections for rightsholders,” ByteDance’s Rogovin said in the statement. Seedance has emerged as a leader in AI tools among some indie filmmakers, who say it is more cost-effective than other options. AI tech companies are eager to find ways to partner with studios to make their tools better, but are also facing competition from rivals to gain more customers as quickly as possible. That has caused some companies to quickly launch their AI products without first putting in more mechanisms to prevent images from appearing without copyright holders’ permission. More to Read ‘The ability to say no’: Artists demand consent over AI use of their music June 23, 2026 As Hollywood leans into AI, the real battle is over likeness and who gets paid June 19, 2026 Voices Hiltzik: The Disney/Sora fiasco shows the limits of the AI craze March 30, 2026