Tik Tok

It converts writing into speech, which can then be played over videos uploaded to the app, often for comedic effect.

Bev Standing recorded about 10,000 sentences of audio for the state-backed Chinese Institute of Acoustics research body to use in translations, in 2018.

The legal action claims her voice can now be heard in viral videos featuring “foul and offensive language”, causing her reputation “irreparable harm”.

Standing, from Ontario, Canada, told BBC News no permission had been given for these recordings to be used in any other applications or resold.

The company says Triller has "shamefully withheld payments owed to our artists" and refused to negotiate a licence to use the music legitimately.

Triller is a fast-growing rival to TikTok, and allows its users to create short videos, often set to music.

The LA-based company "categorically" denied it had been withholding money.

Universal's move appears to means that world-renowned artists like Rihanna, Billie Eilish, Selena Gomez, Lady Gaga, Jay-Z and Bob Marley will no longer appear on Triller's videos.

President Donald Trump ordered a ban on new downloads of the viral video service on that date unless ByteDance was purchased by a US firm.

TikTok said it had worked since August attempting to comply with the order, issued amid security concerns.

It said it had had no feedback from the US government in two months.

"TikTok has actively engaged with CFIUS (Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States) in good faith to address its national security concerns, even as we disagree with its assessment," the firm said in a statement.

The app had faced being blocked from Apple's App Store and Android's Google Play marketplace from 23:59 Eastern time.

Existing US-based users would have been able to continue using it.

But they would not have been able to re-download the app if they deleted it from their phones, nor have been offered software updates.

Judge Carl Nichols of the US District Court for the District of Columbia issued a temporary injunction on Sunday evening at the request of TikTok.

The opinion was sealed, meaning that no reason for the decision was released.

YouTube Shorts will limit videos to 15 seconds, and the platform will feature creator tools that are similar to Chinese-owned TikTok's.

India banned TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps in June as border tensions rose between the two countries.

At the time, India was TikTok's biggest foreign market, with an estimated 120 million users.

YouTube will also be in competition with a number of local competitors who have rushed in to fill the void after TikTok's ban in India.

The Chinese-owned firm has been accused of being a threat to US national security by the Trump administration.

Mr Mayer joined TikTok in June after leaving his role as Disney's head of streaming services.

TikTok was given 90 days to be sold to an American firm or face a ban in the US.

"In recent weeks, as the political environment has sharply changed, I have done significant reflection on what the corporate structural changes will require, and what it means for the global role I signed up for," Mr Mayer said in a letter to employees.

Mr Trump's executive order prohibits transactions with TikTok's owner ByteDance from mid-September.

Officials in Washington are concerned that the company could pass data on American users to the Chinese government, something ByteDance has denied doing.

The short video-sharing app has 80 million active US users.

TikTok says it has tried to engage with the Mr Trump's administration for nearly a year but has encountered a lack of due process and an administration that pays "no attention to facts".

US President Donald Trump says the US government should get a "substantial portion" of the sales price of the US operations of TikTok and warned he will ban the service in the United States on September 15 without a sale.

The turnaround came after Trump said he was planning to ban the Chinese-owned video app's US operations as soon as Saturday after dismissing a possible sale to Microsoft.

Reuters reported last week that some investors are valuing TikTok at about $US50 billion, citing people familiar with the matter.

Mr Pompeo said popular video app TikTok was among those "feeding data directly to the Chinese Communist Party".

His comments came days after Mr Trump said he was banning TikTok in the US.

The company has denied accusations that it is controlled by or shares data with the Chinese government.

Speaking to Fox News Channel, Mr Pompeo said the action would be taken "with respect to a broad array of national security risks that are presented by software connected to the Chinese Communist Party".

The officials in the US city named the victims as Jessica Lewis, 35, and her boyfriend, Austin Wenner, 27. A homicide investigation has begun.

The two were shot dead, and their bodies then put in bags and dumped.

The teenagers spotted a suitcase containing one of the bags on a beach in west Seattle and alerted police.

The teenagers' footage was recorded on 19 June and posted the following day on Tiktok, a video-sharing platform.

In the video, one girl from the group is seen opening the black suitcase with a stick and then complaining of a terrible smell.