Hollywood pressures OpenAI over Sora 2 copyright violations
Hollywood groups including the Motion Picture Association, Creative Artists Agency and talent agencies have accused OpenAI of enabling copyright infringement through Sora 2, a video generation AI launched in September 2025. The groups say the platform's 'opt-out' system allowing use of copyrighted material unless blocked by rights holders violates copyright law and exposes creators to uncompensated use of their work.
What happened
The Motion Picture Association demanded that OpenAI take 'immediate and decisive action' to address copyright infringement problems in Sora 2, stating that 'since the launch of Sora 2, videos infringing films, programs and characters of our members have proliferated on OpenAI's service and on social networks.' The MPA criticised OpenAI's 'opt-out' system where copyright holders must request removal of their content.
Creative Artists Agency, United Talent Agency and WME warned that actors, musicians, writers and other creators face 'significant risks' of having their work used without compensation or credit. Disney sent OpenAI a letter prohibiting use of its protected works and characters. Sora 2, launched 30 September 2025, generates realistic videos up to 10 seconds long based on text prompts and has reached 1 million downloads.
Reported impact
The MPA said infringing videos have proliferated showing copyrighted characters and franchises, including examples such as James Bond playing cards and Woody Woodpecker driving a car fleeing police.
Talent agencies expressed concern that actors, musicians and writers could have their work used without remunerations or credit.
Index analysis
MPA CEO Charles Rivkin stated that established copyright law protects creators' rights and applies in this case, asserting that 'the responsibility to prevent infringements belongs to OpenAI and not to rights holders.' OpenAI CEO Sam Altman acknowledged that 'there may be extreme cases of generations that pass and shouldn't [pass]' and promised to give rights holders 'more granular control' over character generation.
Governance controls
OpenAI initially adopted an 'opt-out' system requiring copyright holders to request exclusion of their content. After criticism, Altman announced the company would implement protective barriers and review Sora videos to ensure compliance with updated policies, and would give rights holders 'more granular control' over characters generated by the AI.
The MPA previously filed cases against other AI platforms including Midjourney, which also faces lawsuits from Disney, Universal and Warner Bros. for unauthorised use of protected characters.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.