One of the studios behind Blade Runner 2049 is suing Elon Musk, Tesla, and Warner Bros. for copyright infringement tied to the Robotaxi reveal.
Though it remains very unclear whether any of the self-driving vehicles demoed at Tesla’s We, Robot presentation will ever actually make it to market, one of the production companies behind Blade Runner 2049 thinks Elon Musk ripped off their copyright for the event, and are taking him to court.
Today, Alcon Entertainment — an LA-based production company behind Blade Runner 2049 — filed a lawsuit against Tesla, Elon Musk, and Warner Bros. Discovery alleging that an AI image generator was used to create promotional art for the We, Robot event that was meant to resemble stills from the 2017 sci-fi film. According to Alcon, which also owns the copyright to Blade Runner 2049, WBD and Tesla sent a request to use imagery from the film on the afternoon of October 10th just hours before the We, Robot demo took place on the Warner Bros. lot in California. Though WBD owns some licensing rights for Blade Runner 2049, because the event would be live-streamed internationally, clearance for the images had to come from Alcon directly. And when Alcon’s legal and licensing departments were made aware of the situation, they sent back a firm refusal to the interested parties “so that there would be no mistakes in the conduct of the event.” “Any prudent brand considering any Tesla partnership has to take Musk’s massively amplified, highly politicized, capricious and arbitrary behavior, which sometimes veers into hate speech, into account,” Alcon’s suit explains. “Alcon did not want BR2049 to be affiliated with Musk, Tesla, or any Musk company, for all of these reasons.” Despite Alcon’s refusal, however, Tesla allegedly decided to feed shots from Blade Runner 2049 into an AI image generator to create “a lightly stylized fake screen still screen” which was displayed prominently during the We, Robot presentation. During the event, Musk mentioned the Blade Runner franchise by name while describing sci-fi depictions of the future, and the livestream cut to an image depicting a man wearing a duster jacket and standing in front of a ruinous, apocalyptic cityscape. Along with the larger copyright infringement, Alcon also says it was never made privy to any of the agreements between Tesla and WBD that would have been necessary before the We, Robot event. Along with giving Tesla the ability to use Warner Bros.’ lot and equipment, Alcon believes that agreement also included a promotional element that “allowed or possibly even required Tesla expressly to affiliate the Cybercab with one or more motion pictures” from the studio’s catalog. Alcon’s suit doesn’t specify exactly how much money the company is seeking in damages, but it states clearly that it believes Musk, Tesla, and WBD all “understood the unauthorized nature of the image and the improper purpose behind it and encouraged or otherwise lent their support to the improper endeavor.”
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Marvel’s Blade Developer Shares Toothy New Look at Blade’s DesignMarvel's Blade developer Arkane Studios gives us a fresh new look at its version of Blade.
Read more »
‘Blade Runner 2049’ Producer Sues Elon Musk’s Tesla, Warner Bros. Discovery Over AI ImagesThe lawsuit accuses Musk of creating AI-generated promotional materials to promote Tesla's cybercab robotaxi.
Read more »
Elon Musk, Tesla and WBD sued over alleged ‘Blade Runner 2049' AI ripoff for Cybercab promotionThe producer of the “Blade Runner” sequel called Elon Musk “problematic.” The Tesla boss is backing Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
Read more »
'Blade Runner 2049' producer sues Elon Musk, Warner Bros. Discovery over Tesla Cybercab launch'Blade Runner 2049' production company Alcon Entertainment sued Tesla, Elon Musk and Warner Bros. Discovery for copyright infringement. Here's why.
Read more »
Elon Musk sued for trying to sell Teslas with AI Blade Runner 2049 imagesMusk used an image that looked like a still from the Denis Villeneuve film at a Tesla event earlier this month.
Read more »
‘Blade Runner 2049’ Producers Sue Elon Musk Over AI Art in Cybercab PresentationProducers of 'Blade Runner 2049' file copyright suit against Elon Musk and Tesla for using an AI-generated image resembling shot from film
Read more »