Disney has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Google, alleging that the tech giant is using artificial intelligence to infringe copyrights on a massive scale. Todd Spangler reports for Variety.
The entertainment company claims Google copies Disney’s copyrighted works without authorization to train generative AI models. Disney also alleges that Google uses these models to distribute copies of protected characters to consumers through its services.
“Google operates as a virtual vending machine, capable of reproducing, rendering, and distributing copies of Disney’s valuable library of copyrighted characters and other works on a mass scale,” the letter states. Disney’s lawyers note that many infringing images are branded with Google’s Gemini logo, falsely implying authorization.
The allegations cover characters from franchises including Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar films, and classic Disney properties. Disney provided examples of images allegedly generated by text prompts in Google’s AI applications.
Disney CEO Bob Iger says the company has been in discussions with Google for months without making progress. “We felt we had no choice but to send them a cease-and-desist,” he tells CNBC.
Google responds that it has a longstanding relationship with Disney and will continue engaging with them. The company says it uses public data from the open web to build AI and offers copyright controls.
This action follows similar cease-and-desist letters Disney sent to Meta and Character.AI. Disney has also filed lawsuits with other studios against AI companies Midjourney and Minimax.
