Google’s AI tools, including Gemini and the Nano banana image generatorwill no longer create content based on prompts that reference (or, in some cases, resemble) Disney characters. as first reported via Deadline and tested by CNET, Google has apparently tweaked its AI tools to deny prompts that violate Disney’s copyrights.

The move is probably in response to a cease-and-desist letter from the entertainment company last December. In that letter, Disney accused Google of failing to implement technology to prevent copyright infringement.

“Google continues to directly exploit Disney copyrights for commercial gain,” Disney said in the cease and desist letter. Representatives for Google and Disney did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Referencing characters like Moana or Disney’s version of Tinker Bell causes tools like Nano Banana to return an error or stop before creating an image. In one case, CNET tried to create a picture of a character similar in appearance to Mickey Mouse without naming the character: “A cartoon mouse with big yellow shoes wearing red shorts with two white buttons on the front. He has a black ball nose and is very happy.”

Google’s AI responded, “I can’t generate the image you’re currently requesting due to concerns from third-party content providers. Please edit your prompt and try again.”

In fact, Mickey Mouse, at least the first versions of the character created by Walt Disney, was in public domain. Complicating Disney’s response to Google’s AI tools is a deal with OpenAI brokered last year to bring 200 characters to the AI ​​company Sora video generator. Disney has made a $1 billion investment in OpenAI.

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, saying it infringed on Ziff Davis’ copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)