Disney Sends Letter To Tech Company Claiming Copyright Infringement

Disney has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Google, accusing the company of widespread copyright infringement involving its popular characters and franchises. The complaint centers around Google’s artificial intelligence tools, which Disney claims are illegally using and generating content based on its intellectual property without permission.

The letter, obtained by TheWrap, was written by attorney David Singer of the law firm Jenner & Block. It outlines Disney’s concerns that Google is using its dominance in AI to “commercially exploit and distribute” content that infringes on Disney’s copyrights. The company argues this is happening “on a massive scale” and that Google is profiting from it.

According to the letter, Disney says the AI tools are producing images and videos that feature characters from films like Frozen, The Lion King, Moana, The Little Mermaid, Deadpool, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Star Wars. These are some of Disney’s most valuable brands, and the company is demanding that Google stop using any related material in its AI training and outputs.

Disney also pointed to several of Google’s platforms and products — including its image and video generators Veo, Imagen, and Nano Banana, as well as its Gemini virtual assistant and YouTube — as areas where the alleged infringement is occurring.

The letter accuses Google of refusing to take serious action, even though Disney claims it has been warning the company for months. Disney says that instead of slowing down, the problem has gotten worse. “If anything, Google’s infringement has only increased during that time,” the letter states.

Disney is asking Google to take several steps, including halting the use of any Disney-owned material in AI training, preventing further infringing outputs, and providing a list of what copyrighted content Google has already used. Disney also wants Google to stop distributing anything that is based on its characters or storylines through its AI tools or other platforms.

The conflict reflects larger questions that tech companies and content creators are now facing. As generative AI tools become more powerful and accessible, more companies are raising concerns about how their content is being used — especially when it involves copyrighted material.