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Reviewed and published by trentmaziarz, April 22, 2026. Discovered and drafted by our automated research pipeline.

Sony Pictures Entertainment sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance in February 2026, demanding the removal of SPE's copyrighted content — including 'Breaking Bad' and Spider-Verse films — from the training data of Seedance 2.0, ByteDance's generative AI video tool. Sony alleged that Seedance 2.0 was trained on SPE content without authorization and generated unauthorized reproductions of SPE intellectual property.

Details

In February 2026, SPE's general counsel Jill Ratner sent a formal cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance, alleging that its Seedance 2.0 text-to-video model generated content that 'closely mimics SPE content' and 'incorporates well-known characters and other copyright-protected elements of SPE works.' SPE demanded ByteDance remove all SPE content from Seedance 2.0's training data and cease distributing infringing outputs. Sony was the fifth major studio to formally protest Seedance 2.0, joining Disney, Paramount, Warner Bros., and Netflix. The Motion Picture Association also sent a separate cease-and-desist to ByteDance on behalf of its member studios.

Products affected

Sony Pictures Entertainment intellectual property (Breaking Bad, Spider-Verse)

Sources & Evidence

News Article

Sony Joins Studio Protest Against 'Egregious' Seedance 2.0 Infringement, Citing 'Breaking Bad' and 'Spider-Verse' AI Clips

Variety·Feb 2026

https://variety.com/2026/film/news/sony-seedance-protest-1236666951/

News Article

Sony Latest Studio To Hit ByteDance With Cease And Desist Letter, Unimpressed By 'Belated Implementation Of Guardrails' At Seedance

Deadline·Feb 2026

https://deadline.com/2026/02/sony-bytedance-seedance-cease-and-desist-letter-1236728970/

News Article

ByteDance says it will add safeguards to Seedance 2.0 following Hollywood backlash

CNBC·Feb 2026

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/16/bytedance-safegaurds-seedance-ai-copyright-disney-mpa-netflix-paramount-sony-universal.html

Cite this record

Trace Foundation. (2026). Sony Pictures Entertainment: Sony Pictures Entertainment sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance in February 2026, demanding the removal of SPE's copyrighted content — including 'Breaking Bad' and Spider-Verse films — from the training data of Seedance 2.0, ByteDance's generative AI video tool. Sony alleged that Seedance 2.0 was trained on SPE content without authorization and generated unauthorized reproductions of SPE intellectual property (data as of 2026-04-22) [Data set record]. AI Trace. https://www.aitrace.org/r/practice/57541466-e41b-4596-8eb6-d83ceb472106. Accessed September 11, 2026.

Stable link: https://www.aitrace.org/r/practice/57541466-e41b-4596-8eb6-d83ceb472106
Data as of: April 22, 2026
Last verified: April 22, 2026

How to cite AI Trace

Other practices by Sony Pictures Entertainment

ProductivitySony Pictures Entertainment announced plans to use generative AI to produce films and television content more efficiently and at lower cost. CEO Tony Vinciquerra stated publicly at a May 2024 investor conference that the company is 'very focused on AI' and intends to use it across stages of the moviemaking process.

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