Alcon Entertainment, the producers behind Blade Runner 2049, are suing Elon Musk over AI-generated images in an ad for the launch of Tesla’s Robotaxi. The lawsuit is alleging direct copyright infringement over the ad, which was used in an event for the Robotaxi presentation livestreamed on the Warner Bros. Discover lot on October 10th. Warner Bros. Discover is also named in the lawsuit, which is seeking an injunction against Musk, Tesla, and Warner Bros. Discover blocking 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 monetary damages. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.
According to the lawsuit (via Variety), on October 9th — the day before the Robotaxi launch — Alcon was contacted by Warner Bros. Discovery regarding the use of specific images and footage from Blade Runner 2049 to be used in the presentation, specifically that they requested specific permission and rights to an image from the 2017 film featuring Ryan Gosling’s K standing next to his spinner vehicle looking at “the devastated orange-light-bathed Las Vegas cityscape.” Alcon co-CEOs Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson refused the request.
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However, during the October 10th launch presentation on the Warner Bros. Discovery lot in Burbank there were images that the lawsuit alleges closely mirror not just that scene but others as well. During the event, Musk also directly referenced Blade Runner, stating during the livestream event when the image specifically listed in the. lawsuit is presented “I love Blade Runner, but I don’t know if we want that future.”
The lawsuit alleges that Musk was aware that Alcon had denied the request to use the images from Blade Runner 2049: “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.”
Alcon’s suit also notes that they are in talks with other automotive brands for partnerships on the upcoming Blade Runner 2099 series for Amazon Prime. Released in 2017, Blade Runner 2049 is the sequel to 1982’s Blade Runner. Directed by Denis Villeneuve, Blade Runner 2049 stars Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford along with Ana de Armas, Robin Wright, Mackenzie Davis, Jared Leto, and Dave Bautista. Ford reprised his role from Blade Runner for the film, as did Edward James Olmos. Musk responded to the lawsuit in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, writing “That movie sucked.”
This is just the latest lawsuit Musk is facing. In September, Cards Against Humanity filed a lawsuit against the X, Tesla, and SpaceX owner over a piece of land on the United States/Mexico border. In that lawsuit, Cards Against Humanity alleges that Musk has been using the land — which was purchased by the card game company in 2017 as part of their “Cards Against Humanity Saves America” campaign — to leave building supplies. The lawsuit is seeking $15 million dollars, which would be distributed to the 150,000 subscribers who paid $100 each to purchase the land in 2017 should the suit be successful.