MPA and ByteDance Reach Cooperation on Intellectual Property Protection for AI Video and Image Generation Models

On August 17, 2026, the Motion Picture Association (MPA) and ByteDance announced that the two sides had reached cooperation on intellectual property protection for video and image generation models including Seedance and Seedream, National Business Daily reported. The memorandum of understanding is described as the first intellectual property agreement — characterized by some commentators as a 'truce' — between Hollywood and an artificial intelligence company.

The agreement covers ByteDance's AI video generation model Seedance and AI image generation model Seedream, which are offered through services including TikTok, CapCut and Dreamina. The MPA's members include Netflix, Disney, Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery. The two sides said that as AI technology continues to evolve, they will continue to cooperate on protection mechanisms for copyrighted content.

'This agreement affirms our belief that copyright is the cornerstone of the film and television industry, and demonstrates our determination to protect creative content,' said MPA Chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin. ByteDance General Counsel John Rogovin said: 'ByteDance respects the intellectual property that underpins the global creative industries. We believe that innovating responsibly in AI and meaningfully protecting rightsholders go hand in hand. We deeply value our engagement with the MPA and its members, and will continue to improve safeguards for our generative AI services. This MOU builds an important framework for continued cooperation as the technology evolves across products and platforms.'

The background to the deal dates to February 2026, when the release of ByteDance's Seedance 2.0 model was followed by large-scale unauthorized generation of content featuring copyrighted film and television characters and actor likenesses — including AI-generated videos depicting characters such as SpongeBob and content related to Stranger Things. The MPA sent ByteDance a cease-and-desist letter on February 20, its first such letter to a major AI company, and the global rollout of Seedance 2.0 was reportedly paused. ByteDance subsequently added safeguards, including restrictions on uploading reference images of real people and on generating well-known IP images, and the MPA said later releases — Seedance 2.5 and Seedream 5.0 Pro — incorporated strengthened IP protection.

Commentators note that the MOU is an output-side governance framework rather than a training-data licensing arrangement: no financial terms, licensing fees or catalog authorization scope were disclosed, and the specific identification, filtering and rightsholder complaint mechanisms have not been published. The deal nonetheless signals a pragmatic direction for AI copyright governance, in which studios prioritize guardrails preventing their IP from being freely generated, while AI companies continue to develop their services under agreed protection frameworks.

Original Link: https://segg.sh.gov.cn/zxfw/xwzx/20260819/92cff928667948849bfdef7e2d88a771.html