Disney Targets Google Over AI Copyright Violations Amid $1 Billion OpenAI Deal
Disney has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Google accusing the company of training AI systems on Disney's works without authorization. Disney alleges that Google's AI platforms, including Veo, Imagen, and Nano Banana, have produced outputs featuring Disney characters such as those from Frozen, The Lion King, Moana, The Little Mermaid, Deadpool, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Star Wars (including Darth Vader). Disney demands that Google stop unauthorized copying, public display, distribution, and creation of derivative works, and implement safeguards across its AI systems to prevent future infringements.
Simultaneously, Disney has entered into a licensing agreement with OpenAI’s Sora to legally license hundreds of characters from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm for AI-generated content including short, user-prompted videos. This deal includes a $1 billion equity investment by Disney in OpenAI. Fan-made AI shorts produced through this collaboration will be streamed on Disney+.
Sora will enable the generation of short videos featuring more than 200 characters from Disney’s extensive portfolio.
This action by Disney comes amid broader AI copyright disputes in the industry. In October, rulings allowed authors to pursue claims against OpenAI for training AI models on books, and in December, a court mandated OpenAI to provide The New York Times with approximately 20 million de-identified ChatGPT logs.
Beyond Google, Disney is also actively pursuing enforcement against other AI firms such as Midjourney and is engaged in ongoing litigation with NBCUniversal, Warner Bros. Discovery, and DreamWorks. The company has issued cease-and-desist letters to Meta and Character.AI as part of its efforts to protect its intellectual property rights from unauthorized AI use.
