[Edaily Starin Choi Hee-jae Reporter] The Hollywood film industry has reached its first-ever agreement with an artificial intelligence (AI) company regarding copyright protection.

The Motion Picture Association (MPA) and ByteDance, the developer of TikTok, announced on the 17th (local time) that they had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to implement robust safeguards for AI-generated videos and images.
This agreement marks the first copyright protection measure the MPA has established with an AI company. It comes six months after the Hollywood film industry voiced opposition to ByteDance’s video-generation model, “SeeDance.”
The two sides did not disclose the specific details of the safeguards outlined in the MOU. However, it appears to include measures to protect the intellectual property rights of major video works and prevent copyright infringement during the AI-powered content creation process.
Both parties noted that ByteDance’s latest video model, “S-Dance 2.5,” and image model, “S-Dream 5.0 Pro,” demonstrate progress in the area of intellectual property protection.
MPA Chairman Charles Livkin stated regarding this agreement, “It demonstrates our belief that copyright is the cornerstone of the film and television industry, while reaffirming our commitment to protecting creative content.”
He added, “Over the past few months, through constructive discussions with ByteDance, we have established substantive safeguards for XDance and XDream,” noting that “this MOU is intended to further solidify these measures.”
John Logovin, Chief Legal Officer at ByteDance, said, “ByteDance respects the intellectual property rights that underpin the global creative industries,” adding, “We believe that responsible innovation in the field of AI must go hand in hand with meaningful protection for rights holders.”
SiDance, unveiled by ByteDance last February, garnered significant attention for its ability to generate cinematic-quality videos using only short prompts. In particular, it sparked controversy when Irish director Lurry Robinson posted a video on social media last February that appeared to show Hollywood actors Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt engaged in a fight.
The Hollywood film industry has strongly opposed AI-powered image and video generation models. It has issued statements of protest, accusing these models of unauthorized replication of major characters such as those from Disney’s “Star Wars” and “Marvel” franchises, as well as the animated series “SpongeBob SquarePants.”
Christopher Nolan, director of the film *The Odyssey*, also took a direct swipe at AI use last July, saying, “I think of it as a ‘Trojan Horse’—everyone knows there’s a Greek army inside.” Director Nolan added, “Technology always brings us tremendous gifts, but we must always view it with a skeptical eye. We must also question the hidden intentions of those providing the technology.”
With Hollywood—which has long been wary of the spread of AI technology—now reaching a formal agreement with AI companies to protect copyrights, all eyes are on whether this will bring about a shift in the industry’s response. Analysts suggest that the discussion is moving away from unilaterally rejecting AI toward acknowledging technological progress while establishing safeguards to protect creators’ rights.
Attention is now focused on how effectively future cooperation between Hollywood and AI companies will prevent actual copyright infringement, and whether it will lead to a new model of coexistence between creators and AI companies.