The news: The Motion Picture Association (MPA) denounced ByteDance’s video generator, Seedance 2.0, and demanded the company “cease its infringing activity” as the entertainment industry moves from abstract copyright debates to active enforcement.

The MPA stated that launching a genAI tool without meaningful safeguards ignores copyright laws that protect creator rights and support jobs. The criticism follows a deepfake video from Seedance—depicting Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt fighting on a rooftop—going viral.

The conflict builds on prior legal clashes between entertainment giants and AI firms, including Disney and Universal suing image-generator Midjourney over alleged copyright infringement and a similar suit from Disney, Universal, and Warner Bros. against Chinese video-generation service MiniMax.

What’s happening: The Cruise-Pitt deepfake may be another bellwether for how Hollywood, digital platforms, AI providers, and advertisers will coexist with increasingly convincing generative video tools.

• For studios and talent: Seedance represents a near-future where artist likenesses can be replicated and distributed at scale, potentially without consent.
• For platforms: The conflict raises a question of how to police unlabeled synthetic content that may not clearly violate existing policies.
• For marketers: The viral clip demonstrates how quickly genAI moments can capture cultural attention, even without media spend, and get massive organic reach.

Why it matters: Deepfake concerns mirror anxieties around AI use in advertising, from digital avatars to voice clones.

Brands using genAI content need to anticipate high consumer expectations around consent, rights, and transparency. Though consumers can’t always discern AI-generated creative from human-made content, they remain skeptical about AI’s role in storytelling and its ethical implications.

Less than half (45%) of Gen Zers and millennials feel positively about AI-powered ads, yet 82% of ad execs believe that cohort likes AI ads, per the IAB.

Recommendations for brands: Viral AI content that feels real can both attract and repel, making authenticity a strategic choice rather than a creative one.

• Weigh where AI novelty enhances storytelling and where it risks undermining trust.
• Prepare for industry standards around AI in ads, such as disclosures, watermarking, and consent from likeness holders.
• Position your brand as responsible and transparent when using AI—this stance could become a competitive differentiator.

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