Disney has issued a legal threat against Google. They are accusing the company of large-scale copyright infringement related to its AI tools. According to a report by Deadline, Disney claims Google’s AI models have been trained on and are generating images and videos featuring Disney-owned characters. Of course this is all being done without permission. Disney argues that this amounts to unauthorized copying and commercial use of its intellectual property, and that Google has failed to put effective safeguards in place despite months of private discussions. This is unfortunately not uncommon now a days with AI becoming more prevalent in just about everything.
Following the warning, Google began blocking user prompts that reference Disney characters. In addition to that they’ve removed dozens of AI-generated videos featuring Disney properties from YouTube. A broader effort by Google to limit potential copyright violations and avoid further legal escalation is a welcome change. Rather than having anyone prompt anything related to Disney, they’ve now issued a stopgap.
This situation highlights the growing tension between major entertainment companies and AI developers. They need to be more careful over how copyrighted material is used to train and power generative AI systems.
Disney separately announced a major licensing deal with OpenAI, showing that the company is not opposed to AI itself, but wants strict control over how its content is used and monetized. “Sora” will be able to generate short, user-prompted social videos that can be viewed and shared by fans. Drawing on more than 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars characters, this will give users ample creative freedom to use the characters they love most. This agreement will also make it so that Disney+ will be able to legally feature some of the shorts created by users, which will make their platform the go-to place for all kinds of fans.
