Round One of ‘Blade Runner 2049’ Legal Battle Over AI Images Goes to Warner Bros. and Elon Musk

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In simpler terms, a federal court has reduced the focus of a legal case involving a production company for ‘Blade Runner 2049’, which claims that Tesla used scenes from the film to train an artificial intelligence software without permission and Warner Bros. Discovery of helping facilitate this collaboration.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge George Wu declined the accusation that Alcon Entertainment’s trademarks were infringed upon, but he did permit certain copyright-related claims to move forward in court.

Last year’s lawsuit was initiated following Tesla’s collaboration with WBD for the grand reveal of their robotaxi, which took place on a studio lot and created quite a stir. During the event, Elon Musk made his entrance in a vehicle he referred to as a “cybercab.” He then displayed an image depicting a man in a trench coat examining the desolate remains of a city shrouded in a hazy, orange glow. Alcon claimed that this image was meant to be recognized as a scene from Ryan Gosling’s exploration sequence in Blade Runner 2049‘s depiction of a ruined Las Vegas.

The case at hand presents a new question regarding whether an AI-generated visual, copied from a copyrighted work without obtaining a license, qualifies as copyright infringement. Tesla contends that Alcon’s accusations should not be taken further since they are solely based on assumptions and speculation.

In their ruling on Monday, the court suggested that it would be too soon to discard the claim. They highlighted Tesla’s request for permission to utilize the film “Blade Runner 2049” in one of its events, which was refused only a few hours before the presentation was due to start, along with “several similarities” between the promotional materials Tesla employed and images from the movie that were accused of being infringed.

Considering the short deadline Tesla and Musk faced following their late request and subsequent rejection to utilize BR2049, it’s quite reasonable for the Plaintiff to claim, based on what they believe, that they used an AI-powered image generator to produce the final product,” Wu stated.

In the majority of copyright cases against Tesla, the court allowed them to move forward. However, for Warner Bros. (WBD), most claims were dismissed, except one allegation of contributory infringement. This claim accuses WBD of encouraging or instigating the alleged misconduct. The court sided with WBD, stating that they had no responsibility for monitoring Tesla’s work related to the presentation. The order states, “There is no evidence suggesting that Warner held a supervisory/controlling position or role in relation to Tesla and Musk.

In a favorable decision for Tesla and WBD, the court rejected a claim accusing them of breaking the Lanham Act, a federal law protecting trademarks from false associations. Despite Elon Musk mentioning “Blade Runner” during his presentation, he didn’t deceive viewers about the film’s origin, as per the ruling. Moreover, Wu clarified that Tesla and Alcon (the company behind Blade Runner) are not rival businesses.

The judge stated that Tesla and Musk aren’t in the business of selling vehicles, which is clear to see, as the plaintiff isn’t involved in such activities.

The court is inclined to let Alcon revise its copyright issues, but not the ones involving Lanham Act violations. The court found that making changes to these claims would be pointless.

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2025-04-08 21:55