Alcon Entertainment, the production company behind “Blade Runner 2049,” sued Tesla and CEO Elon Musk, as well as Warner Bros. Discovery, alleging they engaged in copyright infringement by using AI-generated images representing scenes from the film for the launch of Tesla’s Cybercab.
Alcon’s lawsuit, filed Monday in L.A., accuse Musk, Tesla and WBD of direct copyright infringement, vicarious copyright infringement and contributory copyright infringement, and false endorsement.
seeks an injunction blocking Musk, Tesla, WBD and “anyone working in concert with 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 unspecified monetary damages.
Reps for Tesla, Musk and Warner Bros. Discovery did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to Alcon, on Oct. 10, 2024, Musk launched Tesla’s new, fully autonomous Cybercab on the Warner Bros. Discovery lot — and the tech mogul used in his presentation AI-created images representing scenes from Alcon’s copyrighted motion picture “subsequent to Alcon denying any use of said images.” The Tesla presentation was livestreamed globally and subsequently posted or re-posted “over thousands of times with millions of total views,” according to the company.
During the Oct. 10 presentation, AI-created images mirroring scenes from “Blade Runner 2049” — including one featuring “a Ryan Gosling look-alike” and another one of “the iconic Peugeot-styled futuristic vehicle in the film” — were used during an 11-second segment of the presentation “during which Musk attempted to explain why these images were being showcased,” according to the Alcon complaint.
On Oct. 9, the day before the launch, Warner Bros. Discovery requested from Alcon to use specific images and clips from “Blade Runner 2049” for Tesla’s presentation the next day. 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,” according to the company.
“Beyond not wanting its copyrighted property to be affiliated with Tesla or Musk, Alcon’s suit alleges that the Defendant’s conduct is likely to cause confusion among Alcon’s ‘Blade Runner’ brand partner customers, including those it is partnering with for its upcoming ‘Blade Runner 2099’ series for Amazon Prime, currently filming in Europe,” Alcon said in a statement.
Alcon filed the lawsuit Monday (Oct. 21) in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Western division. A copy of the complaint is available at this link.
