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Disney Sends Cease and Desist to ByteDance Over Alleged AI Use of Star Wars, Marvel, and More
The Force is strong with Disney’s legal team this week.
According to a report from Axios, The Walt Disney Company has sent a cease and desist letter to ByteDance over its newly launched Seedance 2.0 AI service, accusing the company of using Disney’s copyrighted characters without permission.
The letter reportedly claims that Seedance was pre-packaged “with a pirated library of Disney’s copyrighted characters from Star Wars, Marvel, and other Disney franchises, as if Disney’s coveted intellectual property were free public domain clip art.” That is not exactly a Bibbidi Bobbidi Boost for relations between the two companies.
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Among the characters allegedly appearing in Seedance videos were Spider-Man, Darth Vader, Grogu from Star Wars, and even Peter Griffin from Family Guy. Disney’s outside attorney, David Singer, called the situation a “virtual smash-and-grab” of Disney’s intellectual property and described the alleged infringement as willful and pervasive. According to the report, Disney believes the issue could be far more widespread than what has already surfaced, despite Seedance 2.0 launching just days ago on February 12, 2026.
The Motion Picture Association and the Human Artistry Campaign have also weighed in, with the latter urging authorities to use every legal tool available to stop what they described as wholesale theft.
This is not the first time Disney has flexed its legal muscle over AI-generated content. In September 2025, Disney sent a warning to Character.AI over AI chatbots using its characters. A cease and desist was also sent to Google regarding Gemini’s use of Disney IP. At the same time, Disney has carved out a very controlled lane for AI collaboration through its partnership with OpenAI’s Sora.
During a recent investor call, CEO Bob Iger discussed the three-year licensing agreement with OpenAI. Under that deal, users can generate 30-second videos featuring roughly 250 Disney characters, with clear limitations including no human faces or voices. Characters available through Sora include Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Lilo, Stitch, Ariel, Belle, Simba, Baymax, and animated or illustrated versions of Marvel and Lucasfilm favorites like Black Panther, Iron Man, Darth Vader, and Yoda.
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In other words, Disney is not anti-AI. It is very much anti-anyone-using-our-characters-without-permission.
As AI tools continue to evolve at hyperspeed, this latest move signals that Disney intends to guard its vault with the same vigilance it uses to protect Cinderella Castle. Whether this dispute escalates into a larger legal battle remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: the House of Mouse does not play when it comes to its intellectual property.
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