Sora 2 accused of violating Disney, Nintendo copyright
OpenAI has been accused of enabling widespread copyright violations through its Sora 2 video generator app, including the unauthourised use of characters and other content owned by Disney, Nintendo, Sony, and other companies. What happened Early use of OpenAI's Sora 2 found they could quickly and easily generate hyper-realistic video and audio clips featuring copyrighted characters from major entertainment companies such as Disney, Nintendo and Sony. The app’s model appears to include data from copyrighted sources, enabling users to create videos with characters like Mickey Mouse, Sonic, Pikachu, and more —even as Disney and others have started issuing legal warnings and requesting their content be excluded. Why it happened OpenAI’s policy for Sora 2 shifts the burden onto copyright holders by requiring them to explicitly opt-out of having their intellectual property used for AI-generated outputs, rather than obtaining permission in advance. This reflects a “move fast and break things” approach, exploiting gaps and ambiguities in current copyright law relating to AI model training and content generation. It may also be an attempt by OpenAI to normalise the use of copyrighted materials for AI training and use. What it means The IP of studios, copyright holders and creators is now at risk of widespread unauthorised use and potential reputational harm. More broadly, OpenAI's actions undermines trust in content authenticity, exposes society to an increase in deepfakes and misleading content, and accelerates the challenge of regulating powerful generative tools. System 🤖 Sora Developer: OpenAI Country: USA Sector: Media/entertainment/sports/arts Purpose: Generate video Technology: Generative AI; Machi n e learning; T ext-to-video Issue: Cheating/p lagiarism; Copyright
- Date it happened
- 2025-10-01
- Organisation involved
- OpenAI
- Product, system or model
- Sora 2
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