Disney hits Google with a cease-and-desist over AI copyright claims

What you need to know

• Disney has sent Google a cease-and-desist over alleged large-scale use of copyrighted characters for AI training and outputs.
• The claims are broad and specific, naming franchises like Frozen, Star Wars, Marvel, and Moana in unauthorized AI images and videos.
• Google has started pulling content, taking down dozens of AI-generated videos featuring Disney characters after the notice.

Disney has taken a tougher stance on AI. This week, the entertainment giant sent a cease-and-desist letter to Google, claiming that Google’s AI tools have used Disney’s copyrighted material on a "massive scale" to train their models, Variety reports.

Disney claims that Google’s AI models have been trained on and are producing unauthorized images and videos featuring popular Disney characters such as those from Frozen, The Lion King, Moana, The Little Mermaid, Deadpool, Guardians of the Galaxy, Star Wars, and others.

The company’s legal team also said that some of these AI-generated outputs include Google’s logo, which could make people think the content is officially approved by Disney.

Disney explained that it has raised these concerns with Google for months, but, as discussions did not resolve the issue, it decided to issue a formal legal warning to stop the alleged misuse of its intellectual property.

Google begins the cleanup

After receiving the notice, Google began working with Disney to take down dozens of AI-generated videos that featured popular characters, Deadline reports.

The search giant maintains that it uses "public data from the open web" to train its models. A Google spokesperson emphasized their "longstanding and mutually beneficial relationship with Disney," pointing to tools they’ve built, such as Content ID, that help rights holders manage their work.

AI systems are usually trained on large amounts of data collected from the public web, which can include copyrighted material. This practice often goes unnoticed until well-known characters, such as Mickey Mouse or Elsa, appear in AI-generated content without permission.

However, Disney is not turning away from AI altogether. On the same day it took legal action against Google, Disney completed a $1 billion licensing and investment deal with OpenAI.

This agreement allows OpenAI’s Sora video generator to create content featuring more than 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars characters over the next three years, with some of this user-generated content set to appear on Disney+.