OpenAI sued for trademark infringement over Sora’s ‘Cameo’ feature

Audio By Carbonatix

Enlarge

By Blake Brittain

(Reuters) -The maker of celebrity video platform Cameo sued OpenAI in a California federal court on Tuesday, arguing that the new “Cameo” feature of OpenAI’s Sora video generation app violates its trademark rights.

Cameo said in the complaint that OpenAI’s Cameo, which allows users to create and share their virtual likenesses on Sora, is likely to cause consumer confusion and dilute its brand.

An OpenAI spokesperson said the company is reviewing the complaint but “disagree[s] that anyone can claim exclusive ownership over the word ‘cameo.'”

Cameo CEO Steven Galanis said in a statement that the company had tried to resolve the dispute “amicably” but OpenAI refused to stop using the Cameo name.

Cameo, founded in 2017, allows users to hire celebrities to appear in short, personalized videos. Artificial intelligence giant OpenAI’s Sora, launched as a standalone app on September 30, lets users create and share AI-generated videos.

OpenAI calls Sora users’ likenesses on the app “Cameos.” Cameo said OpenAI chose the name “in blatant disregard for the obvious confusion it would create.”

Cameo also said that Sora allows users to create videos with celebrity “Cameos” including entrepreneur Mark Cuban and boxer and influencer Jake Paul, putting the AI giant in direct competition with Cameo’s platform.

“Users seeking a personalized celebrity video now have a choice – use Plaintiff’s CAMEO service to book talent and receive an authentic, custom video prepared by that celebrity, or use Sora’s ‘Cameo’ service to create an extremely realistic AI-generated video featuring a celebrity’s likeness,” the lawsuit said.

Cameo requested an unspecified amount of monetary damages and a court order blocking OpenAI from using the “Cameo” name.

(Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington; Editing by Sam Holmes and Christopher Cushing)