The new version of OpenAI‘s video generator allowed users to create content featuring intellectual property owned by studios across Hollywood, an aggressive escalation of the company’s encroachment onto the entertainment industry. Sora returns copyrighted characters and materials from major TV shows and movies, including Rick and Morty, South Park and Dune. OpenAI expected users to generate videos of studio-owned intellectual property, though it blocks content that uses the likenesses of actors and other recognizable faces, according to the company. At first, OpenAI had copyright owners opt out of having their content appear. However, they began speaking with rights holders to understand their preferences for how their content appears across the ecosystem, and they are pivoting.

OpenAI is “turning copyright on its head,” says Robert Rosenberg, Moses Singer partner and former Showtime Networks Executive Vice President and General Counsel. “They’re setting up this false bargain where they can do this unless you opt out. And if you don’t, it’s your fault. That’s not the way the law works.” “They know what they’re doing,” Rosenberg says of OpenAI’s pivot in handling copyrighted materials on Sora. “They know this kind of output will enrage the studios and copyright holders.”