- On 21 October, producers of the 2017 dystopian film Blade Runner 2049 filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk, Tesla, and Warner Bros. Discovery for copyright violation.
- The trio had asked the production house permission to use a still image from the film in an upcoming event for Tesla’s new line of autonomous cars, Cybercab.
- However, even after the company denied the request, the trio went ahead with an AI-generated version of the scene and used it in the presentation.
The image on the left is the actual scene from the movie, and the one on the right is what Tesla and Elon Musk ended up displaying.
Elon Musk, Tesla, and Warner Bros. Discovery have been sued for copyright violation by the production company of the 2017 dystopian film Blade Runner 2049.
Alcon Entertainment, the production house that financed the film, filed a lawsuit against the trio in a Los Angeles federal court on October 21.
Details of the Lawsuit
The lawsuit says that Tesla first reached out to use a still image from the film for an October 10 event hosted by the company at Warner Bros. Studios (in Burbank, California), where Musk was to showcase his company’s service, Cybercab, a fully autonomous car.
Alcon Entertainment denied Tesla’s request because it does not support Musk’s “extreme political and social views” and wanted to distance its film from the man as much as possible.
But this didn’t stop Tesla from getting their way, as they allegedly used an AI-generated, fake image replicating a scene from the movie and used it in the presentation.
If you’ve watched the movie, you might recognize the scene. It portrays a man (Ryan Gosling who plays “Officer K”) in a long coat looking at the ruins of a city. A slightly stylized version of this scene was used by Tesla, and it went on for 11 seconds.
“During those 11 seconds, Musk tried awkwardly to explain why he was showing the audience a picture of [Blade Runner 2049] when he was supposed to be talking about his new product,” Alcon wrote in the complaint.
It’s worth noting that Elon Musk has hinted at Blade Runner 2049 being the inspiration for his Cybercab project several times in the past. So, naturally, a lot of people may now think there’s some sort of partnership between the two. This is exactly what Alcon Entertainment doesn’t want.
This isn’t the only issue. The bigger problem is that the producers were exploring some car brand partnerships for an upcoming Blade Runner TV series. However, now that the movie is linked with “the problematic Musk,” brands might not feel comfortable going forward with the partnership.
What Does Alcon Entertainment Want Now?
It wants compensation. The exact figure has not been specified, but in its complaint, Alcon Entertainment said that using an image from the film was a huge “economic” theft, and the current value of the brand affiliation is at least six figures, if not higher. So, it’s quite possible that it’s seeking compensation in a similar range.
However, we need to keep in mind that Warner Bros. Discovery holds some rights to the film as well. Although those rights don’t allow it to live stream an AI-generated version of a scene, it might be used in court to bring down the compensation claim.
It’s also worth noting that both Tesla and Warner Bros. have yet to respond to the matter.
