“Three-year deal lets users create AI videos of Mickey Mouse, Darth Vader, and more.”
I’m sure that’s going to take about 30 minutes before they begin to regret the videos coming out of it…
People are acting like this is a win for OpenAI and the AI industry, but I think this is potentially a major victory for IP holders like Disney.
Up until now, the core assumption from the industry around AI has been that it is all fair use, and thus no license (or even so much as basic consent) was needed to train on copyrighted works or produce output resembling specific trademarked IP.
Now Disney and OpenAI have come to an agreement that explicitly allows OpenAI to produce videos of their characters, but from what I can tell does not allow them to train on Disney’s works to do it.
This deal lasts only 3 years, and so what happens is they don’t renew it 3 years from now? What does it mean for the other AI companies that are producing Disney IP without this agreement? What about all the other character and person likenesses that Sora is producing without any such agreement?
Essentially, I think this has allowed Disney to put the ball back in their court. They are deciding who does and doesn’t use their characters. They have put value into the idea of licensing trademarks for AI use. And I think this sets a dangerous precedent for AI companies, because what does this mean for all of the IP holders who they aren’t in an agreement with?
I like that take.
https://arstechnica.com/google/2025/12/disney-says-google-ai-infringes-copyright-on-a-massive-scale/
I wonder if this being right on the heels is related to that.
Definitely not just a coincidence.
It’s a classic move by an established party. Use your momentum to add increased costs for compliance, increasing the entry costs and making it impossible for smaller and freer players to compete. It’s away of pulling the ladder behind them. Openai didn’t have to pay this, until they got big enough to have the money for it. Now everyone else will be expected to do so as well no matter how small they are.
Oh no won’t someone think of the AI companies training with pirated data. They might now have to pay for their data
???
What the hell are you talking about, Jesse?
I hope people are starting to understand that this is what the pro copyright media campaign is actually about. They don’t want to stop AI, they want to own it.
least till they find it’s worthless, and they just lit 1b on fire giving it to a bullshitter
We should make disney regret this decision by generating disgraceful images of disney caracters
Rule34 of the Internet tells us it is inevitable. We can just wait, and see.
licenses mickey mouse 🤔
On January 1, 2024, the copyrights of the first three animated Mickey Mouse cartoons and their portrayal of Mickey Mouse expired in the United States, and they entered the public domain. They are the silent versions of the cartoons Plane Crazy and The Gallopin’ Gaucho, as well as the sound cartoon Steamboat Willie. Newer versions of Mickey Mouse remain copyright-protected.
Mickey Mouse is still protected under the passing off law. Only the actual cartoons are public domain.
Wait, this means they acknowledge they have to license every character/celebrity/person image that exists on their platform?
I’d love that to be the outcome, tbh.
That’s not how the legal system works anymore. Only the rich will be protected, the poor will be constrained.
Do you hear that popping sound? I hear it…
Don’t give me hope.
You will take it and you will like it
So much furry porn.
Very non Disney move this
Not really. They will license their characters if you pay enough and ai companies have tons of investor money burning a hole in their pocket.
Sensible strategy for both sides, though I think Disney was a bit more desperate for a deal. Licensing characters makes it easier for Disney to win Fair Use cases. Meanwhile, if Fair Use is beaten back, then OpenAI may be able to finally create a moat for itself. Challengers would have to either obtain a license or employ expensive filtering. Both would make it rather harder for start-ups.
Like… If you spend a few minutes looking around the ai generated porn you’ll see plenty of Disney characters. No license needed.
Pretty much. In effect, they just paid 1 billion dollars to shovel their IP into the public domain woodchipper.
On Disney’s end of the deal, the company plans to deploy ChatGPT for its employees and use OpenAI’s technology to build new features for Disney+
Disney+, so we can poison your wife in exchange for slop videos.
That’s the protag from Kingdom Hearts, right?
