ByteDance agrees to reel in its AI models to protect Hollywood IPs

TikTok’s parent company signed a memorandum of understanding with The Motion Picture Association.

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Hollywood and ByteDance have seemingly squashed their beef revolving around AI models infringing on studios' intellectual property. The Motion Picture Association (MPA) announced in a press release that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with TikTok's parent company, which details a shared framework to protect against copyright infringement of the trade group's members.

The MPA, whose members include Disney, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, said that "this agreement represents significant cooperation between the two organizations." The trade association even added that ByteDance's latest release of Seedream 5.0 Pro and Seedance 2.5 reflect its "continued advances in IP protections." According to the press release, this memorandum applies to all AI models from ByteDance, including those used on TikTok, TikTok USDS Joint Venture, CapCut and Dreamina. 

The memorandum comes after the MPA sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance in February, accusing the company's AI models of using copyrighted material without permission. Shortly after, ByteDance responded by pledging it would strengthen its safeguards around unauthorized use of intellectual property and likeness, even later reportedly suspending Seedance 2.0's global rollout. Since then, MPA's CEO and chair, Charles Rivkin, said the association has had "constructive engagement" with the ByteDance, adding that the Chinese company has implemented "meaningful guardrails" with its AI models. On the other hand, Hollywood studios are currently in court for a lawsuit against Midjourney, also accusing it of copyright infringement.