Lyonne launches AI video platform prioritizing copyright protections

Actress Natasha Lyonne criticized AI competitors for "robbing freely" copyrighted content at Fortune's Brainstorm AI conference in San Francisco last week, positioning her production company Asteria Film Co. as an ethical alternative amid mounting copyright controversies facing tools like OpenAI's Sora 2 and Google's Veo 3news.yahoo+1.

Asteria, co-founded by Lyonne with filmmaker Bryn Mooser in 2022, partnered with Moonvalley AI to launch Marey, a $14.99-per-month AI video generation tool that trains exclusively on licensed or open-license content rather than scraping copyrighted web materialfortune+1.

The launch follows OpenAI being forced to switch Sora 2 from opt-out to opt-in within 72 hours after the Motion Picture Association protested user-generated videos featuring copyrighted characters, while the U.S. Copyright Office concluded that training AI on copyrighted materials may not constitute fair usecnbc+2.

Actress and director Natasha Lyonne unveiled her production company's ethical approach to AI video generation at Fortune's Brainstorm AI conference in San Francisco last week, positioning Asteria Film Co. as a copyright-conscious alternative in an industry facing mounting legal challenges.news.yahoo+3

Speaking on December 8-9, Lyonne criticized competitors for what she described as reckless data practices, stating: "I don't think it's super kosher copacetic to just kind of rob freely under the auspices of acceleration or China". Her comments come as AI video generators like OpenAI's Sora 2 and Google Alphabet Inc.'s Veo 3 face copyright controversies over training methods.fortune+4

Marey: A Licensed Alternative

Asteria, which Lyonne co-founded with filmmaker Bryn Mooser in 2022, partnered with Moonvalley AI to create Marey, an AI video generation tool named after pioneering cinematographer Étienne-Jules Marey. Unlike competitors that scrape web content, Marey trains exclusively on licensed, high-resolution footage or open-license material.fortune+6

The tool, now available to the public for $14.99 monthly, offers filmmakers production-grade capabilities including camera control, motion transfer, and trajectory control while generating videos up to 10 seconds at 1080p resolution. Moonvalley, founded by former DeepMind researchers, raised $84 million in July 2025 and positions itself as commercially safe for professional use.deadline+6

Industry Reckoning

The timing underscores Hollywood's broader AI reckoning. In October, the Motion Picture Association blasted Sora 2 after its launch enabled users to generate videos featuring copyrighted characters, forcing OpenAI to switch from an opt-out to opt-in model within 72 hours. The U.S. Copyright Office's 2025 report concluded that using copyrighted materials for AI training may not constitute fair use, particularly when sourced from pirated content.cnbc+5

Lyonne emphasized the human cost, telling the Fortune conference that as AI adoption accelerates, "both tech and Hollywood need to respect the work of the cast, as well as the crew and the writers behind the scenes". Her company aims to demonstrate that "powerful AI can be built while respecting artists' and creators' rights," according to Moonvalley CEO Naeem Talukdar.fortune+2

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