A U.S. federal court earlier issued a preliminary ruling that OpenAI’s video generation model Sora is prohibited from using the word “Cameo” in its functions because it infringes on the trademark rights of the celebrity video platform Cameo.
The lawsuit stems from a feature called "Cameo" launched by Sora at its release, which allowed users to add specific likenesses to AI-generated videos. This infuriated Cameo, a platform that operates a "celebrity-customized short film" business, as it argued that this...This can lead to consumer confusion.This dilutes its brand value.
Court: Cameo has a high chance of winning, issues preliminary injunction.
In an earlier ruling, U.S. District Judge Eumi Lee stated that Cameo's lawsuit had a "high probability of success" in subsequent proceedings, and therefore granted a preliminary injunction to prohibit OpenAI from continuing to use the name.
In fact, the court had already issued a statement regarding this case as early as last November.Temporary restraining order The Temporary Restraining Order (TRE) now further solidifies the effectiveness of the injunction.
The core business of the Cameo platform is allowing fans to pay for customized short videos recorded by celebrities. They argue that when OpenAI's Sora also uses "Cameo" to describe the function of "placing people into videos," it misleads the public into believing that there is a collaboration between the two, or that OpenAI's function is licensed by Cameo.
OpenAI disagrees: It's just a single word.
An OpenAI spokesperson expressed regret over the court's ruling and stated that they plan to continue their defense.
OpenAI's stance is simple: "Cameo" is a generic term. In the film and theater industry, "Cameo" originally refers to a cameo appearance, and OpenAI believes that no one should have exclusive ownership of this word.
A spokesperson told Reuters, "We disagree with the complaint that anyone can claim exclusive ownership of the word 'cameo,' and we look forward to continuing to state our position."
The battle over AI copyrights and trademarks continues.
This case is just one of a series of recent intellectual property lawsuits against AI companies. As video generation tools like Sora become increasingly powerful, rights holders from all walks of life, from writers and music publishers to major Hollywood film studios, are taking legal action against companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Perplexity, attempting to defend their intellectual property and trademarks in the AI era.
