AI-Generated Characters Axed From ‘Moana’ and ‘Tron: Ares’

A new report from The Wall Street Journal reveals that Disney has reportedly scrapped plans to use artificial intelligence for characters in two of its upcoming films, Moana and Tron: Ares. The company's decision was reportedly influenced by concerns over potential bad publicity and questions surrounding the ownership of AI-generated content.

What’s Happening:

Disney reportedly cancelled the use of AI in two high-profile movies.
For the live-action remake of Moana, the studio considered using AI to create a deepfake of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson’s face layered onto a body double.
Although Johnson approved the idea, Disney reportedly worried about not being able to claim full ownership of the film's elements if parts were generated by AI.
In a bid for a "buzzy marketing strategy," executives for the upcoming Tron: Ares sequel reportedly pitched an idea to create an AI-generated sidekick character. This concept was ultimately scrapped, with internal sources citing concerns that the company "couldn't risk the bad publicity."
Disney has a history of protecting its intellectual property, and earlier this year, it joined NBCUniversal in suing AI company Midjourney for copyright infringement.

The Legality of AI:

Legal questions around the use and creation of artificial intelligence continue to swirl, particularly regarding copyright and ownership. This is a complex area, and while recent legal rulings have attempted to provide clarity, many questions remain unanswered.
A core principle of U.S. copyright law, as affirmed by courts, is that a work must have a human author to be eligible for protection. This means that a work created entirely by an AI without any significant creative input from a human is not considered copyrightable.
However, if a human uses AI as a tool and makes substantial creative contributions (e.g, editing, arranging, or creatively modifying the AI's output) the human's contributions may be protected by copyright.
Another major legal battle is over the training data, since many generative AI tools have been trained on vast amounts of data scraped from the internet, often including copyrighted material.
Copyright holders, including Disney, are suing these AI companies, arguing that the use of their work without permission or payment constitutes copyright infringement.
The AI companies, in turn, are often arguing that this use falls under the "fair use" doctrine, a legal concept that permits limited use of copyrighted material without permission. The courts have yet to provide a definitive ruling on this issue.
Because of these concerns, some companies are taking a different approach. For instance, MoonValley AI has released "commercially safe" AI models, like their Marey video generator. These models are reportedly trained exclusively on licensed, high-resolution footage, ensuring that the output is not derived from potentially infringing sources and is safe for commercial use by filmmakers and studios.

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No Mau-AI for Moana, Disney Scraps AI-Generated Characters in Upcoming Films

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