Yesterday, The Walt Disney Company announced an agreement with OpenAI to allow the use of Disney characters in AI content. Before the announcement, Disney sent Google a cease-and-desist letter accusing it of copyright infringement.

©Disney

According to Deadline, Disney sent the cease-and-desist letter on Wednesday, just before the company announced its partnership with OpenAI. Disney accused Google of copyright infringement on a “massive scale” for using Disney’s copyrighted characters in AI-generated content.

The letter was sent to Google by David Singer, a Jenner & Block attorney representing Disney. Disney wrote that Google has been “intentionally amplifying the scope of its infringement, by making its infringing AI services available across so many channels to so many consumers, flooding the market with infringing works, and reaping enormous profits and other value from its unlawful, harmful, and damaging exploitation of Disney’s copyrighted works.”

©Disney

Disney claims that its intellectual property has been “distributed without authorization,” and Google has copied copyrighted works in its training models for AI. Google Gemini, Google’s primary AI brand, has created content using Disney’s copyrighted characters like Simba, Nala, and Darth Vader. Disney wants Google to “cease further copying and distribution of Disney IP in its AI services, as well as to implement technical measures to ensure that no further outputs infringe on the company’s works.” As well as identifying the copyrighted works used to train its AI models and ensuring they are no longer used. 

Example of an image generated using Google’s AI included in the letter

Disney claims it has been trying to engage with Google for months regarding the copyright infringement, but Google has not taken any steps to remedy the situation. A spokesperson for Google stated, “We have a longstanding and mutually beneficial relationship with Disney, and will continue to engage with them. 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.” Disney has also previously sent cease-and-desist letters to Meta and Character.AI and is also involved in litigation with NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery.

The Walt Disney Company

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