OpenAI has launched Sora, an app which allows users to create short-form videos by typing out prompts. This app, available only on iOS devices, is invite-only, meaning users need a code to access it.
CNBC gained access to Sora on Oct.1 and has viewed videos that included characters from shows like “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “Rick and Morty” and “South Park,” as well as movies like “Despicable Me.” Another clip shows OpenAI CEO Sam Altman standing in a field with several Pokémon characters, where he says, “I hope Nintendo doesn’t sue us.”
Another one shows McDonald’s mascot Ronald McDonald fleeing from police in a car shaped like a burger. CNBC was also able to generate several characters and logos independently, including Ronald McDonald, Patrick Star from “SpongeBob SquarePants,” Pikachu from the Pokémon franchise, a Starbucks coffee cup and characters from “The Simpsons.”
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Experts told CNBC that this could give rise to a number of copyright-related lawsuits. “A lot of the videos that people are going to generate of these cartoon characters are going to infringe copyright,” Mark Lemley, a professor at Stanford Law School, said in an interview. “OpenAI is opening itself up to quite a lot of copyright lawsuits by doing this.” This comes during a time when OpenAI, along with other tech companies like Meta and Anthropic have been sued for copyright-related issues.
“People are eager to engage with their family and friends through their own imaginations, as well as stories, characters, and worlds they love, and we see new opportunities for creators to deepen their connection with the fans,” Varun Shetty, OpenAI’s head of media partnerships, told CNBC in a statement.
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“We’ll work with rights holders to block characters from Sora at their request and respond to takedown requests.” Altman also said in a blog post that the company is going to “give rightsholders more granular control over generation of characters,” likening it to the way that individuals can choose how their own likeness is used in Sora. However, he did not give any further details.
OpenAI gave some talent agencies and studios the option to opt-out of Sora and exclude their copyrighted material ahead of the app’s launch, according to the Wall Street Journal. According to Jason Bloom, partner and chair of the intellectual property litigation practice group at the law firm Haynes Boon, such an arrangement is unusual. “You can’t just post a notice to the public saying we’re going to use everybody’s works, unless you tell us not to,” he said. “That’s not how copyright works.”