A federal district court in Northern California ruled in favor of Cameo, a platform that allows users to receive personalized video messages from celebrities, and ordered OpenAI to stop using “Cameo” in its products and features.
OpenAI used the name “Cameo” for its AI video generation app Sora 2. Users could use this feature to insert their digital likenesses 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 a feature.”
In November, a court granted Cameo a temporary restraining order, stopping OpenAI from using the word. AI then renamed the feature “Characters” after this order.
“We’ve spent nearly a decade building a brand that stands for talent-friendly interactions and real connections, and we like to say that ‘every Cameo is an advertisement for the next.’ Cameo CEO Steven Galanis said in a statement.
“This decision is a critical victory not only 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’ve worked so hard to build,” he noted.
“We disagree with the complaint’s assertion that anyone can claim exclusive ownership of the word ‘cameo,’ and we look forward to continuing our case,” an OpenAI spokesperson told Reuters in response to the decision.
OpenAI has been involved in several intellectual property cases in recent months. Earlier this month, the company branded “IO” around its upcoming hardware products, according to court documents obtained by WIRED. In November, digital library app OverDrive sued OpenAI for using “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 infringement.
Techcrunch event
Boston, MA
|
June 23, 2026