Disney has accused Google of engaging in copyright infringement on a “massive scale,” claiming its AI models have generated content resembling characters from Frozen, Deadpool, Star Wars, and others, according to reports from Variety and Deadline. In a cease-and-desist letter sent on Wednesday, Disney demands that Google stop allegedly infringing on its copyrighted works.
Disney sent the notice just one day before announcing a billion-dollar deal with OpenAI, which will allow Sora AI users to create videos using more than 200 characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars. The AI-generated videos will also appear on Disney Plus, too, which CEO Bob Iger teased last month.
As reported by Deadline, Disney’s cease and desist notice calls out Google’s Gemini, Veo, Imagen, and Nano Banana AI models, accusing the company of “flooding the market with infringing works,” while “reaping enormous profits” as a result. It also claims Google has “refused” to implement safeguards against copyright infringement despite attempts to engage Google “for months,” according to Deadline. Google didn’t immediately respond to The Verge’s request for comment.
“Google is infringing Disney’s copyrights on a massive scale, by copying a large corpus of Disney’s copyrighted works without authorization to train and develop generative artificial intelligence (‘AI’) models and services,” Disney’s letter says, according to Variety. “Disney will not tolerate the unauthorized commercial exploitation of its copyrighted characters and works by so-called AI services.”
Read the full article here
