ByteDance has reportedly paused the global launch of its new AI video model, Seedance 2.0, after facing copyright disputes with major Hollywood studios and streaming platforms.
Reuters reported that The Information cited two people with direct knowledge of the matter. Reuters said it could not independently confirm the report, and ByteDance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The company had announced last month that it would take steps to stop the unauthorized use of intellectual property on Seedance 2.0 after legal threats from US studios, including Disney.
Disney sent ByteDance a cease and desist letter last month, accusing the company of using Disney characters without permission to train and support the model. The complaint followed the spread of AI-generated videos in China, including one showing Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in a fight.
According to Disney, ByteDance had included a pirated library of copyrighted characters from major franchises such as Star Wars and Marvel, presenting them as if they were public domain clip art.
ByteDance officially introduced Seedance 2.0 in February and said the model was built for professional use in film, e-commerce, and advertising. The company promoted its ability to handle text, images, audio, and video together, helping reduce production costs.
The model quickly gained attention and was compared to DeepSeek, another Chinese AI company known for building models that compete with Anthropic and OpenAI. Some tech leaders, including Elon Musk, reportedly praised Seedance 2.0 for its ability to create cinematic stories from only a few prompts.
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ByteDance had planned to release the model to global customers in mid March, but those plans have now been put on hold. The report said the company’s legal team is working through possible legal risks, while engineers are adding safeguards to stop the model from generating content that could cause more intellectual property problems.
