Disney alleges Google’s AI is copying its characters in major copyright dispute

New Delhi: Disney has accused Google of engaging in copyright infringement on a “massive scale”, alleging that the company’s artificial intelligence tools have generated material resembling numerous Disney-owned characters and franchises, according to news reports.

The development comes a day before Disney disclosed a $1 billion investment in OpenAI, a move seen as significant for the entertainment and technology sectors.

Disney’s lawyers sent a cease-and-desist letter to Google on Wednesday, instructing the company to halt what the studio describes as extensive misuse of its intellectual property. 

Reports from Variety and The Verge state that Disney has accused Google’s AI systems of producing imagery that “looks like characters from Frozen, Deadpool, Star Wars, Guardians of the Galaxy, and more.”

Disney’s legal claims

According to the letter sent to Google’s general counsel by the law firm Jenner & Block, Disney argues that Google has been copying large quantities of Disney’s copyrighted material without permission to train and develop its generative AI models and public-facing services. Disney also contends that Google is using these AI tools to produce and circulate works that unlawfully mirror its original creations.

Variety reports that the letter describes Google as functioning like a “virtual vending machine” capable of reproducing, rendering and distributing well-known Disney characters on a large scale. It further states that many AI-generated images feature the Gemini logo, which Disney argues wrongly implies the company has approved Google’s use of its intellectual property.

Variety, after reviewing the letter, notes that Disney cited examples of Google’s AI producing content resembling characters from Frozen, The Lion King, Moana, The Little Mermaid, Deadpool, Guardians of the Galaxy, Toy Story, Brave, Ratatouille, Monsters Inc., Lilo & Stitch, and Inside Out. The accusations also cover major franchises including Star Wars, The Simpsons, and several Marvel properties such as Avengers and Spider-Man.

Disney provided examples of images it says were generated by Google’s AI using text prompts, including one depicting Darth Vader.

Google’s response

When contacted by Variety, a Google spokesperson said the company has had a long-standing and positive relationship with Disney and “plans to keep engaging with them.”

The spokesperson added that Google’s AI models are trained on publicly available content from the open web and noted the existence of tools such as Google-extended and YouTube’s Content ID, which are designed to help copyright holders manage how their work is used.

Months of raised concerns

According to news reports, Disney had been raising the issue with Google for several months but had not seen any substantive action.

Speaking to CNBC on Thursday, Disney CEO Bob Iger said the company has consistently defended its intellectual property and has taken action in cases where other businesses have not respected it. He described the current dispute as “another example of just doing that.”

Iger said Disney had previously engaged with Google to flag concerns about how its AI systems were using Disney material. After those discussions stalled, Disney proceeded with a formal cease-and-desist notice.

What Disney is seeking

In the letter, Disney has asked Google to introduce stronger technical safeguards across its AI models and any Google products that incorporate those systems, in order to prevent similar incidents. The company states it will not accept “unauthorised commercial use” of its characters or stories by AI platforms.

The letter also argues that the alleged infringement is especially harmful because Google’s scale allows its AI tools to reach vast audiences, benefiting from Disney-owned content that Disney says has been improperly reproduced.