Dale Nelson Examines Disney and OpenAI’s Recent Deal in Her Latest Forbes Article

Dale Nelson recently authored a Forbes article titled “Disney/OpenAI Deal Rewards Act First, Justify Later,” analyzing Disney’s $1 billion three-year deal with OpenAI, on the heels of recent controversy surrounding Sora 2’s opt-out policy for intellectual property owners.

Disney has invested $1 billion in OpenAI’s services and products, allowing Sora 2 and ChatGPT users to generate user-prompted images and videos with Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars IP. This deal comes after Disney had made infringement claims on other AI tools, including Google’s Gemini 3, which Dale believes could now help Disney position itself against such targets. She writes, “…Disney can point to an existing licensing market for its IP, which bolsters its position that the use of its IP for AI training is not a fair use since it negatively affects an existing licensing market.”

The article continues to examine this deal in light of other AI lawsuits and deals unfolding, noting that in many cases, IP is controlled by different parties and thus varies in AI usage rights. She explains, “Disney’s predominance in animation makes it a bit easier to separate these different rights while still being able to offer valuable IP. Other studios with more live-action prevalent libraries may not be able to license their IP so easily without running afoul of the rights of actors and writers behind their assets.” She concludes the article by emphasizing that the law remains ambiguous as it relates to AI, with IP holders left with more questions than answers. 

Read the full article in Forbes.