OpenAI’s Sora to Offer Copyright Controls and Revenue Sharing for Rights Holders

OpenAI, the Microsoft-backed artificial intelligence company, is set to roll out new copyright controls in its video-generating app, Sora. The upcoming features will allow content rights holders, such as movie and television studios, to decide how their characters are used in AI-generated videos. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed the plans in a blog post, noting that rights owners will have “more granular control over generation of characters,” including the ability to block unauthorized use.

The move comes amid growing scrutiny over AI-generated content and its implications for intellectual property rights. By offering these new tools, OpenAI aims to balance creative freedom with fair compensation for original creators. According to Altman, OpenAI will also launch a revenue-sharing program, enabling copyright holders who allow their characters to appear in Sora to earn from user-generated content.

Sora, introduced this week as a standalone app in the U.S. and Canada, lets users generate short videos up to 10 seconds long. The app has quickly surged in popularity, with users creating and sharing clips across social media-style feeds. However, its reliance on copyrighted material has raised concerns in Hollywood, where major studios are closely monitoring AI’s impact on the entertainment industry. Reports indicate that Disney has already opted out of allowing its characters in the platform.

Altman acknowledged that designing a fair revenue-sharing framework “will take some trial and error,” but confirmed OpenAI will begin testing different approaches soon. The company intends to refine its monetization model in Sora before expanding it across its broader AI product suite.

OpenAI’s launch of Sora marks another step in the competitive text-to-video AI space, where it faces rivals such as Meta and Google. Meta recently unveiled Vibes, a similar platform for short-form AI-generated videos. With demand for AI video creation growing rapidly, OpenAI’s strategy could set a precedent for how intellectual property is managed in the era of generative AI.