Blade Runner 2049 producer sues Elon Musk for "intentionally malicious" copyright infringement

The other week, electric car company Tesla debuted its fully autonomous robotaxi in Burbank, California, on the backlot for Warner Bros. Discovery studios. Autonomous taxis feature in movies like Blade Runner 2049, which was distributed by Warner Bros. Discovery, so maybe Tesla CEO Elon Musk felt it was appropriate.

But the people who made Blade Runner 2049 didn't. During the presentation, the audience watched a video about Tesla's new robotaxis that featured an image which recalled Blade Runner 2049 a little too much for the likes of Alcon Entertainment, which produced the movie. Per Variety, Alcon has now sued Musk, Tesla and Warner Bros. Discovery for copyright infringement and false endorsement.

You can see the image in question from Blade Runner 2049 above; it was featured as the header image for the trailer, so it's not obscure. Below, check out that image next to the one Alcon claims is infringing:

In its complaint, which you can read in full here, Alcon says that Tesla's image features “a Ryan Gosling look-alike” as well as a doppleganger for “the iconic Peugeot-styled futuristic vehicle in the film.” In Blade Runner 2049, Gosling plays K, a replicant detective. “It was hardly coincidental that the only specific Hollywood film which Musk actually discussed to pitch his new, fully autonomous, AI-driven cybercab was [Blade Runner 2049] — a film which just happens to feature a strikingly-designed, artificially intelligent, fully autonomous car throughout the story," the complaint snarks.

Alcon also alleges that Musk and Warner Bros. Discovery knew they didn't have permission to use this image but "did it anyway." On October 9, the day before the robotaxi event, WBD allegedly requested from Alcon permission to use that specific image. Alcon Co-CEO Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson “refused WBD’s request, objecting to their film being affiliated in any way with Tesla, Musk or any Musk-owned company.” After that, Alcon alleges, "Musk personally became aware of Alcon’s permission denials and express objections.” Given all that, Alcon alleges that "this was clearly all a bad faith and intentionally malicious gambit by Defendants to make the otherwise stilted and stiff content of the joint WBD-Tesla event more attractive to the global audience and to misappropriate [Blade Runner 2049] brand to help sell Teslas.”

Alcon doesn't want imagery from Blade Runner 2049 associated with Tesla and Musk for a number of reasons. For one thing, there's the risk of being associated with a controversial figure like Musk in the first place. "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," reads the complaint. "If, as here, a company or its principals do not actually agree with Musk’s extreme political and social views, then a potential brand affiliation with Tesla is even more issue fraught.”

Second, Alcon is working on a live-action Blade Runner TV series for Amazon and doesn't want anything getting in the way of potential brand deals with other automakers. I do wonder if it would have made a difference if the forthcoming Blade Runner 2099 were being made for WBD instead.

Another wrinkle here is that the image used in the robotaxi event appears to be AI-generated. Courts have yet to draw many clear lines on regarding AI-generated images when it comes to copyright infringement. This is one of many lawsuits that's hoping to change that; A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin is also filing a lawsuit in the hopes of getting the authorities to make up clear rules around this stuff.

With so little established, it's hard to know how any of these suits will play out, but we'll be watching. In addition to monetary damages, Alcon is asking for an injunction blocking Musk, Tesla, WBD and “anyone working in concert with them from further copying, displaying, distributing, selling or offering to sell [Black Runner 2049] or protectible elements thereof in connection with Tesla or Musk, or making derivative works thereof for such purposes.”

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