Elon Musk might find out in an expensive way that a company can’t just use an AI-generated copy of someone’s work when denied the right to use the original. Alcon Entertainment filed a lawsuit on Monday against Elon Musk, Tesla and Warner Bros. Discovery for allegedly using AI-produced imagery to represent scenes ripped directly from “Blade Runner 2049” during its “We, Robot” event two weeks ago. The lawsuit directly alleges copyright infringement and false endorsement.
Alcon, the production company with the rights to the entire “Blade Runner” franchise, claims it denied a request from Warner Bros. Discovery on the day before the Cybercab/Robovan reveal event. Alcon’s executives made their decision due to “objecting to their film being affiliated in any way with Tesla, Musk or any Musk-owned company.” Variety reports that Musk personally ignored the rejection:
The Alcon lawsuit alleges that “Musk personally became aware of Alcon’s permission denials and express objections” to using “Blade Runner 2049” images for the Tesla event and that “He thus personally knew and understood that to incorporate ‘BR2049’ into the event presentation at all would be improper and an unauthorized misappropriation of ‘BR2049’ goodwill. He did it anyway.”
It’s difficult to deny that the image used during the presentation doesn’t resemble Officer K, played by Ryan Gosling, looking out towards a post-apocalyptic Las Vegas cityscape.
The reasoning behind the rejection is simple and sound. Alcon is seeking a partnership with another automaker for it’s upcoming “Blade Runner 2099” streaming series with Amazon Prime. Product placement is an important revenue stream for an production and an implication that Alcon is already tied-up with Tesla would jeopardize ongoing negotiations.
Alcon previously sued Peugeot in 2019 over its deal with the French manufacturer for “Blade Runner 2049.” The film briefly featured Gosling’s character driving a Peugeot-branded Spinner flying car. The production company claimed the automaker acted in bad faith after it agreed to pay $500,000 directly and spend $30 million on associated advertising, according to the Hollywood Reporter. However, Peugeot refused to give final approval on the collaboration and backed out at the last minute. I’m just going to assume that “Blade Runner 2099” won’t feature any flying car chases.