Disney takes surprise legal action against Google over likenesses

Disney signs a $1 billion, three-year AI partnership with OpenAI for character use with Sora.Disney accused Google’s Gemini AI of massive copyright infringement of character likenesses.OpenAI can generate Disney images/videos, but can’t use Disney talent likenesses or voices.AI came for the authors (including Game of Thrones' George R.R. Martin)... and Hollywood kind of shrugged. Then, AI came for Disney's (DIS) intellectual property - and knives were instantly drawn. Or, rather, they were drawn as soon as Disney signed a three-year, $1 billion partnership with OpenAI this Thursday. The deal, which set the tone for AI industry intellectual property partnerships going forward, will bring classic Disney characters (think Mickey Mouse), Marvel and Star Wars heroes, and animated stars from recent hits (think "Moana", Pixar's "Inside Out", and "Zootopia') to OpenAI's Sora, per Disney's Dec. 11 press release. Disney preempted the announcement of this deal by delivering a cease-and-desist letter to Google (GOOG) on Wednesday evening. The letter accuses Google (and Google's Gemini AI) of widespread copyright infringement in relation to popular Disney character likenesses, per Variety's reporting. Related: 'Wicked: For Good' box office shocks Disney, criticsThe letter conveyed Disney's message in stark terms:"Google is infringing Disney’s copyrights on a massive scale, by copying a large corpus of Disney’s copyrighted works without authorization to train and develop generative artificial intelligence (‘AI’) models and services, and by using AI models and services to commercially exploit and distribute copies of its protected works to consumers," the letter by law firm Jenner & Block on behalf of Disney read Dec. 10th.The timing is both convenient and likely necessary if Disney and OpenAI want to keep Disney's intellectual property (IP) only available for AI work on Sora. This deal broke new ground for how IP licensing for AI models could work (OpenAI itself was bold enough to dub it a "landmark deal"), so this lawsuit will set an important precedent. I tease out the details, including what characters Disney particularly has its eyes on protecting, below.Disney: Google AI intellectual property violations on "a mass scale"Disney's latest cease-and-desist letter claims that Google's copyright violations have been wide-reaching and that their damage has been compounded by Gemini branding on the resulting content. It gets specific, citing particular characters and content that Disney's legal representatives have earmarked as flagrant examples (summarized below)."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," read Disney's letter to Google per Deadline. "Compounding Google’s blatant infringement, many of the infringing images generated by Google’s AI Services are branded with Google’s Gemini logo, falsely implying that Google’s exploitation of Disney’s intellectual property is authorized and endorsed by Disney.”More Disney:Walt Disney is the only movie company that mattersDisney makes bold statement on Warner Bros. purchaseAMC stock secretly relies on these upcoming Disney filmsSuch strongly worded language indicates that Disney's licensing partnership with OpenAI and Sora has emboldened the Mouse House, spurring it to test the waters of AI infringement on a scale we have yet to see. Case in point, within this week's cease-and-desist to Google, Disney went on to cite specific images, paired with the prompt text that generated them, which they believe are copyright infringements.They began with this Darth Vader image, which they claim was generated by Gemini: Source: Variety Disney continued from there, earmarking several high-priority examples from their canon that are being violated. They cited characters from the following franchises (data from the most recent film of each series):Disney properties infringed by Google AI, Gemini"Avengers: Endgame" (2019): $2,717,503,922 (Worldwide Box Office)"Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens" (2015): $2,056,046,83“Inside Out 2” (2024): $1,698,831,782“The Lion King” (2019): $1,661,454,403“Frozen 2” (2019): $1,451,653,316 “Deadpool & Wolverine” (2025): $1,338,071,348“Toy Story 4” (2019): $1,071,177,215“Moana 2” (2016): $1,059,135,998“Lilo & Stich” (2025): $1,038,009,248“Guardians of the Galaxy 3" (2023): $845,555,777“Ratatouille” (2007): $626,549,695“The Little Mermaid” (2023): $569,626,289“Monsters Inc.” (2001): $560,483,536“Brave” (2012): $554,606,532 Source: The Numbers What can OpenAI do with Disney characters?This lawsuit should, to some extent, silo off Disney characters for use only by OpenAI's Sora. The degree to which this will be true, and whether it will be enforceable, remains to be seen. Here's what Sora will - and won't - be able to do with its new IP treasure trove:What Disney Sora AI can doOpenAI's partnership with Disney does allow users to generate short video content and images with Disney character likenesses."Sora will be able to generate short videos from user prompts, drawing from more than 200 "animated, masked and creature characters, as well as from costumes, environments, props, and vehicles owned by Disney," per Axios. "Users can also harness ChatGPT Images to create stills using the same intellectual property."What Disney Sora AI can't doOpenAI's Sora notably doesn't cover the use of Disney talent likenesses or voices. This clarification is a biggie, as concerns from SAG-AFTRA and other Hollywood creative talent agencies - which were already high with multiple ongoing legal actions - are spiking in response to the OpenAI and Disney agreement, according to the Hollywood Reporter. SAG-AFTRA issued a statement Thursday that both acknowledged the agreement and their cooperation with Disney, and conveyed their clear voiced reproach of Google alongside Disney. Per SAG-AFTRA's Dec. 11 statement:Hot water for Google (and the entire AI industry). Fortunately for them, Google has nearly unlimited resources, so if this does go to court, I would expect a protracted process. The quality level of the AI-assisted fan content will also come out in the wash. As with most tools, I expect it will vary greatly in accordance with user skill (aka there will be a few genuinely mind-blowing works amongst an ocean of slop).Related: 'Zootopia 2' sees instant box-office success for Disney, but there's a secret