Alcon Entertainment Files Lawsuit Against Elon Musk for Copyright Infringement
The Hollywood production company behind the acclaimed film “Blade Runner 2049,” Alcon Entertainment, initiated legal action against Elon Musk on Monday, alleging that he unlawfully utilized imagery from the film to promote Tesla’s new “robotaxi.” The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, with Alcon seeking justice not only from Musk but also from Tesla and Warner Bros. Discovery, both named as co-defendants.
In the complaint, Alcon detailed that they had previously denied a request from Musk and the respective companies to incorporate visuals from “Blade Runner 2049” during a marketing event scheduled for October 10 at the Warner Bros. lot. The lawsuit asserts, “He did it anyway.”
According to the allegations, Musk’s live-streamed presentation, which was a highly publicized unveiling of a vehicle that Tesla claims can operate autonomously, did not directly display images from “Blade Runner 2049.” Instead, the event featured “AI-generated images that closely mirrored scenes from ‘Blade Runner 2049,’” including one depicting a character resembling Ryan Gosling, as reported by Alcon.
The lawsuit criticized the use of artificial intelligence tools to produce these nearly identical images, labeling it as “a bad-faith and intentionally malicious gambit” aimed at making the event more appealing to a global audience while also attempting to misappropriate the “Blade Runner 2049” brand to bolster Tesla’s sales.
As of now, Mr. Musk, Tesla, and Warner Bros. Discovery have yet to issue a public comment regarding the allegations. Alcon’s situation draws parallels to a previous incident involving actress Scarlett Johansson and the AI company OpenAI. Earlier this year, OpenAI sought permission to license Johansson’s voice for a new virtual assistant, but she declined the offer. Despite her refusal, OpenAI proceeded to utilize a voice dubbed “Sky,” which Johansson described as sounding “eerily similar to mine.” In response, she enlisted legal representation, while OpenAI eventually retracted the voice option, stating in a blog post that “AI voices should not deliberately mimic a celebrity’s distinctive voice.”
“Blade Runner 2049,” a sequel to the beloved original film, was produced and financed by Alcon and released by Warner Bros. in 2017. The movie features Ryan Gosling as a bioengineered human navigating a post-apocalyptic United States, with a significant focus on a fully autonomous, artificially intelligent vehicle.
According to Alcon, they denied Musk’s request for imagery due to his “highly politicized, capricious and arbitrary behavior,” which they claimed at times bordered on hate speech. Moreover, Alcon indicated they were in discussions with other automotive brands for potential partnerships related to an upcoming Amazon television series titled “Blade Runner 2099” and did not wish to jeopardize those negotiations.
In light of these events, Alcon asserted in their lawsuit that “the false affiliation between ‘Blade Runner 2049’ and Tesla has been irreparably tangled in the global media tapestry, as all defendants knew would inevitably happen.”