18 August 2026

ByteDance agrees copyright protections with Hollywood studios

• ByteDance, the Chinese company behind TikTok, signed a formal agreement with the Motion Picture Association to build copyright protections into its Seedance and Seedream AI video generation models.
• The deal came months after ByteDance received a cease-and-desist letter over a viral deepfake video of actor Tom Cruise created with its technology.
• Multiple Chinese AI video labs are separately working on similar copyright agreements with Hollywood, suggesting the issue extends beyond ByteDance alone.

How it was covered

The Rundown AIRowan Cheung

ByteDance reached a formal framework with the Motion Picture Association implementing film and TV copyright protections into its Seedance and Seedream AI video models, months after receiving a cease-and-desist over a viral deepfake Tom Cruise clip. The newsletter notes this is just one domino among many Chinese AI video labs challenging Hollywood.