• by Tanya Gazdik , October 21, 2024

A production company for the “Blade Runner 2049” movie is suing Tesla and Warner Bros. Discovery for copyright infringement.

The suit alleges that the automaker fed images from the movie into an artificial intelligence image generator to create unlicensed promotional materials for its robotaxi, introduced Oct. 10 during a marketing event. 

“Alcon Entertainment, in a lawsuit filed on Monday in California federal court, accuses Elon Musk and his autonomous vehicle company of misappropriating the movie’s brand to promote its robotaxi at a glitzy unveiling earlier this month,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. “The producer says it doesn’t want 'Blade Runner 2049' to be affiliated with Musk because of his ‘extreme political and social views,’ pointing to ongoing efforts with potential partners for its upcoming TV series.”

The Tesla presentation, held at the Warner Bros. studio, was livestreamed globally and viewed millions of times, according to Marketing Daily. The complaint also names Warner Bros. Discovery for allegedly facilitating the partnership.

“The lawsuit called the use of artificial intelligence tools to create near-identical images ‘a bad-faith and intentionally malicious gambit’ to make the event ‘more attractive to a global audience and to misappropriate the ‘Blade Runner 2049’ brand to help sell Teslas,’” according to The New York Times. 

“Blade Runner 2049” was financed and produced by Alcon and released by Warner Bros. in 2017. The movie prominently features an artificially intelligent, fully autonomous car.

“The suit seeks an injunction blocking Musk, Tesla, WBD and “anyone working in concert with them from further copying, displaying, distributing, selling or offering to sell ‘BR2049’ or protectible elements thereof in connection with Tesla or Musk, or making derivative works thereof for such purposes’ as well as unspecified monetary damages,” according to Variety. “Per the lawsuit, Alcon is ‘in talks with other automotive brands’ for partnerships on the ‘Blade Runner 2099’ series.”