What happened

Early use of OpenAI's Sora 2 found they could quickly and easily generate hyper-realistic video and audio clips featuring copyrighted characters from major entertainment companies such as Disney, Nintendo and Sony. 

The app’s model appears to include data from copyrighted sources, enabling users to create videos with characters like Mickey Mouse, Sonic, Pikachu, and more —even as Disney and others have started issuing legal warnings and requesting their content be excluded.

Why it happened

OpenAI’s policy for Sora 2 shifts the burden onto copyright holders by requiring them to explicitly opt-out of having their intellectual property used for AI-generated outputs, rather than obtaining permission in advance. 

This reflects a “move fast and break things” approach, exploiting gaps and ambiguities in current copyright law relating to AI model training and content generation. 

It may also be an attempt by OpenAI to normalise the use of copyrighted materials for AI training and use.