TikTok owner ByteDance announced a new agreement with the Motion Picture Association, which will ensure that the artificial intelligence options available from ByteDance include more guardrails to protect against IP infringement.
In February, the MPA called on ByteDance to implement more restrictions on the use of its Seedance AI video generation tool. This came after videos produced by the app included AI versions of actors depicted in realistic-looking scenes.
In one creation that gained a lot of attention, actors Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise were depicted fighting on a roof.
The cease-and-desist letter from the MPA sought to pressure ByteDance to implement more protections to stop the unauthorized use of actors and other studio-owned IP.
That initial step was the seed of this new agreement, which aims to prevent people from using AI models in TikTok to generate video clips of IP protected by the film and television industry.
At least, in theory.
As per ByteDance: “The Motion Picture Association and ByteDance today announced they have reached a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) reflecting a shared framework to maintain strong guardrails on generative AI video and image models like Seedance and Seedream — offered by TikTok, the TikTok USDS Joint Venture, CapCut and Dreamina, among others — with the goal of protecting intellectual property.”
ByteDance said the agreement represents significant cooperation between the two organizations. The company added that the latest versions of its Seedance AI generation models now include advanced IP protections.
The agreement represents a small step toward protecting IP in AI-generated content, though many AI tools still enable users to generate false and misleading depictions of recognizable people and characters.
A key challenge in the AI era will be policing this type of misuse. Through agreements like this, related parties can establish more direct lines of communication to address these issues.
