Federal court blocks OpenAI from using 'Cameo' name in landmark trademark lawsuit ruling

U.S. court bars OpenAI from using 'Cameo' | TechCrunch

A federal district court in Northern California ruled in favor of Cameo, a platform that allows users to get personalized video messages from celebrities, and ordered OpenAI to stop using "Cameo" in its products and features. OpenAI was using the "Cameo" name for its AI-powered video generation app Sora 2. Users could use that feature to insert digital likenesses of themselves into AI-generated videos. In a ruling filed Saturday, the court said the name was similar enough to cause user confusion, and rejected OpenAI's argument that "Cameo" was merely descriptive, finding that "it suggests rather than describes the feature." In November, the court granted a temporary restraining order to Cameo and stopped OpenAI from using the word. The AI company then renamed the feature to "Characters" after that order. "We have spent nearly a decade building a brand that stands for talent-friendly interactions and genuine connection, and we like to say that 'every Cameo is a commercial for the next one." Cameo CEO Steven Galanis said in a statement. "This ruling is a critical victory not just for our company, but for the integrity of our marketplace and the thousands of creators who trust the Cameo name. We will continue to vigorously defend our intellectual property against any platform that attempts to trade on the goodwill and recognition we have worked so hard to establish," he noted. "We disagree with the complaint's assertion that anyone can claim exclusive ownership over the word 'cameo,' and we look forward to continuing to make our case," an OpenAI spokesperson told Reuters in response to the ruling. OpenAI has been involved in several intellectual property cases in recent months. Earlier this month, the company ditched "IO" branding around its upcoming hardware products, according to court documents obtained by WIRED. In November, digital library app OverDrive sued OpenAI over its use of "Sora" for its video generation app. The company is also in legal disputes with various artists, creatives, and media groups in various geographies over copyright violations.

OpenAI blocked from using 'Cameo' name amid trademark lawsuit

Feb 17 (Reuters) - A federal judge in California has blocked OpenAI from using the name "Cameo" in connection with its video generation app Sora, handing celebrity video platform Cameo a preliminary win in a trademark lawsuit against the artificial intelligence giant. U.S. District Judge Eumi Lee said in a ruling, opens new tab on Saturday that OpenAI's Cameo feature, which allows users to create and share their virtual likenesses on Sora, was likely to confuse consumers. Lee granted Cameo a preliminary injunction that blocks OpenAI from using the name, finding that the company's lawsuit was likely to succeed. The judge had awarded Cameo a shorter-term restraining order against OpenAI in November. Spokespeople for OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. Cameo CEO Steven Galanis said in a statement that the ruling is "a critical victory not just for our company, but for the integrity of our marketplace and the thousands of creators who trust the Cameo name." OpenAI and other AI companies have faced a barrage of intellectual property claims, chiefly in the form of copyright lawsuits from authors, news outlets and others accusing them of misusing their content to train AI systems. OpenAI also drew criticism when it used a voice resembling "Her" actress Scarlett Johansson in ads and allowed users to render images in the style of famed Japanese animation outfit Studio Ghibli without permission. Digital library app maker OverDrive separately sued OpenAI in Ohio in November for allegedly violating its trademark rights in the "Sora" name. OpenAI has denied the allegations. Cameo, founded in 2017, allows users to hire celebrities to appear in short, personalized videos. OpenAI's Sora, which launched as a standalone app in September, lets users create and share AI-generated videos. Cameo said OpenAI chose the name "Cameo" for its Sora user avatars "in blatant disregard for the obvious confusion it would create." Cameo also said that Sora allows users to create short videos with celebrity "Cameos" including entrepreneur Mark Cuban and boxer and influencer Jake Paul, putting it in direct competition with Cameo's platform. Lee agreed with Cameo that OpenAI's use of its name would likely create market confusion and cause Cameo irreparable harm without an injunction. The case is Cameo v. OpenAI Inc, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 5:25-cv-09268. For Cameo: Jordan Raphael and Timothy Byron of Byron Raphael For OpenAI: Sara Pollock and Margret Caruso of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan OpenAI sued for trademark infringement over Sora's 'Cameo' feature Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab * Suggested Topics: * Litigation * Intellectual Property Blake Brittain Thomson Reuters Blake Brittain reports on intellectual property law, including patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets, for Reuters Legal. He has previously written for Bloomberg Law and Thomson Reuters Practical Law and practiced as an attorney.

Federal court rules that OpenAI must stop using the term 'Cameo'

Cameo, the platform where celebrities sell short, personalized videos, has scored a in a trademark against OpenAI. A California judge has ruled that the AI company's video generation tool cannot use the term 'cameo' or any variation likely to cause confusion. A temporary restraining order in the case was in November of last year. The suit was in response to a feature available within the at launch called 'Cameo' that allowed users to add any likeness to videos they generated. Cameo claimed the use of the term in this setting was likely to cause confusion and could dilute their brand. OpenAI then with the feature despite the suit. U.S. District Judge Eumi Lee ruled on Saturday that Cameo's lawsuit was likely to succeed and granted a , blocking OpenAI from continuing to use the name. An OpenAI spokesperson responded to the ruling saying, "We disagree with the complaint's assertion that anyone can claim exclusive ownership over the word 'cameo,' and we look forward to continuing to make our case," according to . This is just the latest in a string of intellectual property cases against AI companies that have accelerated as video generation capabilities have improved across the board. Rights holders of all kinds from and to have taken the likes of OpenAI, Anthropic, and others to court, seeking to protect their IP.

OpenAI must stop using 'Cameo' term, judge rules

A judge has sided with Cameo, the company that sells custom celebrity videos, over OpenAI over the name "Cameo." Credit: Ahmet Serdar Eser/Anadolu via Getty Images OpenAI may soon have to find a new name for the "Cameo" feature in its AI video generator app Sora. A judge has just issued a preliminary win to Cameo, the online platform where consumers can purchase custom videos from celebrities, regarding its trademark infringement lawsuit against OpenAI. Cameo, the company, argued that OpenAI's Cameo feature would likely cause confusion among consumers. U.S. District Judge Eumi Lee agreed, at least, preliminarily. Previously, OpenAI renamed the feature "Characters" after the same judge issued a temporary restraining order, according to Tech Crunch. "In sum, OpenAI uses 'cameo' as the app-defining feature to promote the Sora application; it uses it in a manner derived from Plaintiff's CAMEO® mark; it is employing a nearly identical marketing strategy; and it is using 'cameo' to describe realistic AI-videos that are, at times, indistinguishable from Plaintiff's authentic Cameo Videos," the judge wrote in the preliminary order. The judge also highlighted some of the questionable content produced using Sora's cameo feature. "Plaintiff's concern is based on troubling content already generated on the Sora application. For example, within the first few weeks of launching Sora 2, users began generating and sharing 'hyper-realistic deepfake videos' of Martin Luther King, Jr. doing 'crude, offensive or racist things,' including videos of him stealing from a grocery store and fleeing from police." Within Sora, users can opt in to a feature that allows their likeness to be used in AI-generated content. This is the feature that OpenAI has called Cameo. The AI giant has continued to use the Cameo name so far, regardless of the lawsuit. Cameo lets consumers pay celebrities to record real custom videos as personal greetings, holiday gifts, and birthday messages. Cameo has argued that an AI product with the same name that generates videos would likely cause brand confusion. However, it appears that OpenAI isn't giving up on the term "cameo" without a fight. "We disagree with the complaint's assertion that anyone can claim exclusive ownership over the word 'cameo,' and we look forward to continuing to make our case," said an OpenAI spokesperson, according to Reuters. OpenAI has faced several legal issues related to copyright infringement. After a backlash over rampant copyright infringement on the Sora video app, OpenAI introduced an opt-out option for copyright holders.