The entertainment world has thrown down the gauntlet against OpenAI. The latest product of the company, Sora 2, has sparked what may be one of the largest legal showdowns between Hollywood and Silicon Valley, as big studios and talent agencies are joined together in their outrage over the unauthorized use of copyrighted material and star likenesses that the AI video creation uses.
In late September 2025, Sora 2 took the world of video creation based on AI by storm. The website lets users upload videos of actual people and put them into AI-computed scenes with sounds and dialogues.
Just within the first week of release, the internet went wild with viral videos with such beloved characters as SpongeBob SquarePants and Pikachu, as well as deepfake videos of famous people, all made without the consent of the rightful owners.
The Hollywood reaction has been swift and relentless. Industry giants like Disney, Warner Bros., and Universal publicly denounced the platform, with Disney even claiming that they never authorized OpenAI to use their intellectual property. The studio made it very clear that the use of their copyrighted material should never be found on Sora 2.
Sora 2 Sparks Outrage from CAA and Studios Over Copyright Misuse
Major talent agencies have had their voices raised too. The Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and the United Talent Agency have condemned Sora 2 as a core “misuse” of digital advancements that puts their clients at risk in ways that are historically unprecedented.
CAA wasn’t shy, labeling OpenAI’s strategy “exploitation, not innovation,” which requires that any use of AI-crafted likenesses be accompanied by proper control, credit, and compensation to people being represented.
The basis of the case is copyright law and rights of publicity. Sora 2 had previously operated on an “opt-out” basis, i.e., the site could use copyrighted characters or star images unless the rights owners themselves requested to opt out. This, the Studios and legal experts aver, breaches the fundamentals of copyright, i.e., that express permission should be obtained before protected material can be used after the event, not.
The Motion Picture Association Chairman, Charles Rivkin, urged quick action to prevent what he describes as blatant copyright theft. Rivkin made the case that the responsibility to prevent the violations rests with OpenAI, rather than with the rights owners who have to police the site day and night to clear the site of unauthorized material.
Talent Agencies Pledge ‘Long Battle’ as Sora 2 Threatens Hard-Won Creator Rights
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has admitted to the fears and pledged reform. The company said that it will allow rights holders finer control over the ways in which their characters can be synthesized and that it will build mechanisms to compensate creators.
Those assurances, however, have raised widespread doubts among the entertainment industry and lawyers who wonder aloud if voluntary controls will be enough.
The entertainment industry sees this as a defining moment in its relationship with artificial intelligence. Unlike previous disputes over AI training data, Sora 2’s ability to generate hyperrealistic videos featuring recognizable characters and people makes the copyright violations immediate and undeniable.
Studios have already been engaged in legal battles with other AI companies over training data usage, but the Sora 2 controversy represents a sharp escalation.
The talent agencies have signaled that they are ready to wage a long battle. They say that actors and creators should be accorded the same rights in the digital age as they’ve had forever, the right to control their image, be given proper credit, and be remunerated adequately for their craft.
The agencies perceive Sora 2’s superficial approach as undercutting years of hard-won rights that had been carefully negotiated over the years.
Sora 2’s Realistic Videos Ignite Fierce IP, Publicity Rights, and Copyright Struggle
Laywers forecast a drawn-out, heated struggle to come. Related lawsuits in the past against AI firms already provided some precedents with respect to copyright and training data, but the features of Sora 2 extend into new territory.
The platform, as it generates realistic videos of actors acting out scenes they never acted in, creates thorny issues with respect to intellectual property, rights of publicity, and the future of control over creation.
What happens from here might reorient the entire AI industry to how it treats copyrighted material. Hollywood has shown that it will compete defend intellectual property as well as the rights of talent.
