Google responded to Disney’s cease-and-desist letter by taking down dozens of AI-generated videos featuring characters owned by the House of Mouse.
The move came shortly after Disney shot off a legal warning to Google — in which they claimed the tech giant was leveraging its dominance in generative AI to “commercially exploit and distribute” infringing material.
On Friday, Google made it clear that they were cooperating with Disney by removing videos generated by artificial intelligence that featured the likeness of Mickey Mouse and other popular Disney characters.
“We have a longstanding and mutually beneficial relationship with Disney, and will continue to engage with them,” a spokesperson for Google said to multiple outlets. “More generally, we use public data from the open web to build our AI and have built additional innovative copyright controls like Google-extended and Content ID for YouTube, which give sites and copyright holders control over their content.”
Prior to this update, Disney had sounded off on Google, claiming the latter was “intentionally amplifying the scope of its infringement.” The letter also noted that the infringing material had been using several characters from the Disney IP, including “Frozen,” “The Lion King,” “Moana,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Deadpool,” “The Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Star Wars.”
Disney went on to allege that Google had “refused to implement any technological measures to mitigate or prevent copyright infringement” — though, the tech giant’s Friday statement appears to refute this claim.
Despite Disney’s outcry over Google’s use of its IP, the House of Mouse is not staying out of the AI game. As we previously reported, Disney struck a licensing deal with OpenAI to invest $1 billion into the tech company and bring its array of characters to Sora.
“The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence marks an important moment for our industry, and through this collaboration with OpenAI we will thoughtfully and responsibly extend the reach of our storytelling through generative AI, while respecting and protecting creators and their works,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a statement this week. “Bringing together Disney’s iconic stories and characters with OpenAI’s groundbreaking technology puts imagination and creativity directly into the hands of Disney fans in ways we’ve never seen before, giving them richer and more personal ways to connect with the Disney characters and stories they love.”
Several unions have since expressed concern over the Disney-OpenAI deal, with the WGA even blasting the arrangement as a company “sanction” to steal their work.
Read more of the reactions here.
