Disney agrees deal to let TikTokers use its films and TV shows in videos
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- Disney and TikTok agreed a deal letting creators use clips from Disney films and subsidiaries in TikTok videos, covering franchises including Star Wars, Toy Story, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- Fan-created videos will also be distributed on Disney's short-form video platform Verts, which Disney launched in the US in March with plans for wider global expansion.
- The scheme launches first in the US before being rolled out to other countries; neither company disclosed financial terms of the agreement.
- The TikTok pact comes after a $1bn Disney-OpenAI deal collapsed in March when OpenAI shut down its Sora AI video generation tool, shifting Disney's content-partnership focus from AI to human creators.
- TikTok averaged 6.5 million posts relating to film and TV content per day last year, according to a joint statement from both companies.
- Disney chief marketing and brand officer Asad Ayaz said "fans are celebrating our stories in entirely new ways," with the companies citing audience engagement on social media as "increasingly important" to entertainment.
Why it matters: Disney redirected a content-partnership strategy from a $1bn OpenAI deal—scuttled in March when OpenAI killed Sora—to a creator-driven model on TikTok and its own Verts platform. Disney gains free marketing through fan-made clips; creators get legal cover and amplification rather than copyright takedowns on high-profile franchise footage.
