The Walt Disney Company (Disney) has accused Google of large-scale copyright infringement, according to multiple media reports citing a copy of a cease-and-desist letter the company sent on December 11.
The letter, reviewed by outlets including Variety and Axios, alleges that Google copied a substantial portion of Disney’s copyrighted catalogue without permission to train its generative AI models and then used those models to reproduce and distribute Disney-owned characters, images, and other creative assets.
According to the reports, Disney’s counsel at Jenner & Block wrote that Google is infringing the company’s copyrights “on a massive scale” by ingesting Disney content into its AI training pipelines and by outputting derivative works through services such as Gemini, Imagen, and Veo.
The letter, as reported by Variety, describes Google’s AI products as functioning like a “virtual vending machine” that can generate unauthorised images and renderings of characters from franchises including Frozen, Moana, The Lion King, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars.
Some outputs, Disney argued, appeared with Google’s branding, creating the false impression that the reproductions were licensed.
Disney has demanded that Google immediately stop copying or generating content derived from its intellectual property and restrict the availability of such outputs on YouTube, Shorts, and other Google platforms.
The company also noted in the letter that it had raised concerns with Google over several months but saw no meaningful corrective action.
The confrontation landed during the same week Disney announced a billion-dollar licensing and investment deal with OpenAI that will allow its characters to appear in Sora and other OpenAI media tools under formal commercial terms.
This will allow Sora, OpenAI’s generative video platform, to create short, user-prompted social videos featuring more than 200 characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars.
The deal also includes a $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI, along with warrants to purchase additional equity.
The transaction remains subject to definitive agreements, corporate and board approvals, and other closing conditions. Sora and ChatGPT Images are expected to begin generating Disney-licensed content in early 2026.
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