Warner Bros. Wins 'Blade Runner 2049' AI Image Legal Battle

Legal Dismissals in Blade Runner 2049 Lawsuit

A recent development in a high-profile lawsuit involving the production company behind Blade Runner 2049 has seen some of the claims dismissed. The case centers around allegations that Tesla, in collaboration with Warner Bros. Discovery, used images from the film in an artificial intelligence image generator to create promotional materials without proper authorization.

The legal dispute was triggered by a significant event where Tesla partnered with Warner Bros. Discovery to unveil its robotaxi at a glamorous presentation held on a studio lot. During the event, Elon Musk made a dramatic entrance in what he called a "cybercab," followed by a visual display featuring a male figure in a trench coat surveying the ruins of a city bathed in misty, orange light. Alcon Entertainment, the production company responsible for Blade Runner 2049, claimed this image was meant to be interpreted as a still from the movie’s sequence where Ryan Gosling’s character explores a ruined Las Vegas.

One of the key legal questions raised by the case is whether using a copyrighted work to generate a new visual through an AI image generator constitutes copyright infringement. In a recent ruling, the court dismissed claims against Warner Bros. Discovery, stating that there was no evidence supporting the allegation that the studio provided high-resolution images of the movie to Tesla for the event.

Another claim that was also dismissed alleged that Warner Bros. Discovery had a duty to prevent Tesla from infringing on Alcon's intellectual property. However, the court ruled that even if the studio had received a request from Alcon to stop Tesla from using the images, it did not have the authority to enforce such a restriction.

"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," wrote the judge in the ruling issued on September 11.

Tesla was denied permission to use stills from Blade Runner 2049 just hours before the presentation was set to begin. According to the lawsuit, the company responded by feeding images from the movie into an AI image generator, which allegedly undermined Alcon's intellectual property rights.

However, there are obstacles for Alcon in proving its case. The court noted that it doesn't appear that either the studio or Tesla directly benefited from the alleged infringement.

Alcon will have one more opportunity to refine its claims regarding direct and vicarious copyright infringement. Warner Bros. Discovery may assist the company in addressing these allegations.

Despite the dismissals, Warner Bros. Discovery still faces a claim for contributory infringement, which accuses the studio of facilitating the alleged misconduct. Earlier this year, the court rejected Tesla’s attempt to dismiss a claim for direct copyright infringement, citing "several similarities" between the promotional materials Tesla used and the stills from the movie that were allegedly infringed upon.

Part of Alcon’s motivation for continuing the lawsuit is related to an upcoming TV series based on Blade Runner 2049. At a hearing earlier this year, when asked about what the company expects to win in the case, a lawyer for Alcon stated, "Part of what is happening here is my client has to make clear that it has distance from some of the parties involved here."

This ongoing legal battle highlights the complexities of intellectual property rights in the age of artificial intelligence and the challenges faced by studios and creators in protecting their work.