Disney agrees deal to let TikTokers use its films and TV shows in videos — SkimNews
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- Disney and TikTok agreed a deal letting creators use clips from Disney subsidiaries' films and TV shows in TikTok videos, with the content also appearing on Disney's short-form platform Verts, launching first in the US before international rollout.
- Disney franchises covered include Star Wars, Toy Story, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and neither company disclosed financial terms of the agreement.
- The deal comes after a $1bn (£745m) Disney-OpenAI agreement collapsed in March when OpenAI shut down its Sora AI video generation tool, with Enders Analysis' Gareth Sutcliffe calling the TikTok pact a recovery move in the user-generated content space.
- TikTok saw an average of 6.5 million posts relating to film and TV per day last year, and without formal permission, fan clips were routinely removed under copyright claims, the source notes.
- Social media expert Matt Navarra told BBC the deal reflects a shift in which Hollywood must hand fans the raw materials to market with rather than marketing at them, while Sutcliffe flagged an ongoing European online safety debate around TikTok that will require Disney to set guardrails on curated creator content.
Why it matters: Disney gains a formal creator pipeline and a presence on TikTok's algorithm after losing its $1bn OpenAI/Sora route into AI-generated video, while TikTok secures Hollywood credibility as a distribution partner. The deal formalizes what was previously a copyright-takedown gray zone for fan clips of Disney's biggest franchises, with US creators gaining licensed access first.
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