Tesla AI Art Sparks Blade Runner Copyright Lawsuit

The Heart of the Dispute: A Cybercab and a Sci-Fi Classic

A fascinating legal battle is unfolding between Alcon Entertainment, the production company behind Blade Runner 2049, and automotive giant Tesla. The conflict stems from a high-profile event where Tesla unveiled its robotaxi. During the presentation, CEO Elon Musk showcased an image of a man in a trench coat overlooking a desolate, orange-hued cityscape.

Alcon Entertainment alleges that this image was deliberately created to mimic a specific scene from Blade Runner 2049, featuring Ryan Gosling's character in a ruined Las Vegas. The lawsuit claims that after being denied official permission to use stills from the movie, Tesla turned to an AI image generator, feeding it scenes from the film to create the promotional art. This action, Alcon argues, undermines its intellectual property rights and raises novel questions about copyright in the age of AI.

Court Dismisses Key Claims Against Warner Bros Discovery

While the case against Tesla moves forward, Warner Bros. Discovery, which was also named in the lawsuit, has scored a significant victory. A court recently dismissed several claims that sought to hold the studio responsible for Tesla's alleged infringement.

Alcon had accused Warner Bros. of facilitating the infringement by providing high-resolution images from the movie to Tesla for the event. However, the court found that this accusation was not supported by sufficient allegations. Another claim, which argued that Warner Bros. had a duty to stop Tesla from using the imagery after Alcon requested it, was also dismissed. The judge's ruling, issued on September 11, clarified that Alcon's request did not grant the studio the actual power to control Tesla's actions. As Judge Wu wrote, “Allowing Musk and Tesla to ‘pick and choose’ content from a library does not amount to Warner having a right to stop, limit, or supervise” them.

Why Alcon is Pushing the Fight

Beyond protecting its intellectual property, Alcon Entertainment has another key motivation for pursuing this lawsuit. The company is developing an upcoming TV series based on the Blade Runner universe and has expressed a clear desire to create distance from Tesla and Elon Musk. During a court hearing, a lawyer for Alcon stated that a primary goal of the case is for his client to “make clear that it has distance from some of the parties involved here.” This suggests the lawsuit is as much about brand management as it is about copyright law.

The Road Ahead: Unsettled Questions in AI and Copyright

The legal battle is far from over. Warner Bros. Discovery still faces a claim for contributory infringement, which alleges the studio played a role in facilitating the misconduct. Meanwhile, the core of the case against Tesla continues, as the court had previously denied Tesla’s bid to dismiss the direct copyright infringement claim, noting “several similarities” between the movie stills and Tesla's promotional art. Alcon will have another opportunity to amend its direct and vicarious copyright infringement claims, potentially strengthening its case as the discovery phase proceeds. This lawsuit remains a pivotal case, asking whether using an AI to replicate the style and substance of a copyrighted work constitutes infringement.