New Delhi: Disney has moved to curb the unchecked creation of its characters by artificial intelligence tools, forcing Google to block image generation of Disney-owned properties across its AI platforms. The action follows a cease-and-desist notice sent in December, in which Disney accused Google of letting its AI act like an unlicensed “virtual vending machine” for copyrighted characters.
Since then, users have found that prompts which earlier produced detailed images of popular characters now fail. Google’s AI tools respond with messages saying the request cannot be completed due to “concerns from third-party content providers.”
The change signals a tightening of rules as copyright owners push back against unrestricted AI image generation.
While some users have already identified small workarounds, such as uploading reference images to influence outputs, the blocks have largely stopped direct character creation. Generating images of characters like Iron Man, Darth Vader, or Elsa through simple text prompts is no longer possible.
Disney’s legal letter argued that Google’s AI systems were reproducing copyrighted works at scale and had likely been trained on Disney-owned material without permission. The company demanded an immediate stop to unlicensed image generation, an end to training on its intellectual property, and stronger safeguards to prevent future misuse. Disney also noted that it had raised these concerns earlier without meaningful response.
Google, for its part, said it is improving copyright protection tools and compared its efforts to systems like Content ID. The company has denied training its models on proprietary data, stating that its AI relies on publicly available web content.
The dispute comes as Disney itself increases its involvement in AI, including a recent $1 billion licensing agreement with OpenAI. The episode highlights a future where AI platforms may operate under different creative limits depending on licensing deals, reshaping how users interact with generative tools.
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