MPA & ByteDance Introduce AI Guardrails to Protect IP on TikTok

The Motion Picture Association and ByteDance have worked together to produce global artificial intelligence guardrails to protect intellectual property on TikTok, the companies announced on Monday.

Their new Memorandum of Understanding offers a framework for how generative AI video and image models can pull from existing film and TV properties.

“Today’s agreement illustrates our belief that copyright is a cornerstone of the film and television industry – and reinforces our commitment to protect creative content,” MPA chairman/CEO Charles Rivkin said in a statement. “For the past several months, we have had constructive engagement with ByteDance to implement meaningful guardrails on Seedance and Seedream, and this MOU reflects our shared determination to continue our work together to further fortify those guardrails.”

“ByteDance respects the intellectual property rights that underpin creative industries around the world, and we believe responsible innovation in AI goes hand in hand with meaningful protections for rightsholders,” John Rogovin, General Counsel for ByteDance, added. “We appreciate the productive engagement with the MPA and its members as we continue to strengthen safeguards across our generative AI services. This MOU establishes an important framework for continued collaboration as the technology evolves, across a variety of products and platforms.”

The update comes months after the MPA sent the tech company a cease and desist letter in February due to its Seedream 5.0 Lite and Seedance 2.0 versions. As such, Seedream 5.0 Pro and Seedance 2.5 feature these advanced protections.

At the time, an AI-generated video of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt fighting on a rooftop had gone viral, prompting the MPA to warn of “infringing activity” regarding copyright laws.