SAG-AFTRA has become the latest entity to condemn the AI productions featuring imagery of real actors and references to already existing movies.
Describing the eerily realistic creations as “blatant infringement”, the entertainment union called out ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok and innovator behind the viral AI model Seedance.
“SAG-AFTRA stands with the studios in condemning the blatant infringement enabled by ByteDance’s new AI video model Seedance 2.0,” the organisation’s official statement revealed.
“The infringement includes the unauthorized use of our members’ voices and likenesses. This is unacceptable and undercuts the ability of human talent to earn a livelihood. Seedance 2.0 disregards law, ethics, industry standards and basic principles of consent. Responsible AI development demands responsibility, and that is nonexistent here.”
Furthermore, SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin was also one of the stars whose likeness was exploited in the recent Seedance trend.
His character from the Lord of the Rings franchise, Samwise Gamgee, appeared in one of the AI videos circulating online.
The footage, which is no longer available due to a copyright strike, was shared on X (formerly called Twitter) with the description, “LOTR in 15 seconds”.
Meanwhile, the Seedance AI trend has been criticised by various players in the entertainment industry, including Disney.
According to Variety, the company sent a cease and desist letter to ByteDance general counsel John Rogovin on Friday, citing “willful, pervasive, and totally unacceptable” usage of the Disney-owned IP.
While the current discourse was initially kick started by the AI creation of an action sequence featuring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, shared on X and widely circulated shortly after, prompting further such videos and myriad responses.
