George Carlin’s property has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in opposition to Dudesy, the media firm that used generative synthetic intelligence to provide a pretend hour-long comedy particular that imitates the deceased star’s voice and comedic model. The grievance filed in Los Angeles federal court on Thursday alleges that Carlin’s copyrighted supplies and likeness had been used with out permission or acceptable licenses, calling the particular a “piece of computer-generated click-bait which detracts from the worth of Carlin’s comedic works and harms his fame.”
The AI-generated particular, titled George Carlin: I’m Glad I’m Lifeless, was launched on the Dudesy podcast’s YouTube channel on January ninth, the place it stays reside and has since racked up nearly 500,000 views. Dudesy podcast hosts Will Sasso and Chad Kultgen, who’re additionally named within the grievance, responded to criticism surrounding the particular a number of days after its launch, referring to AI as “the subsequent paintbrush” and saying that it’s a “new device that’s going to be utilized in each aspect of life.”
Carlin’s property is requesting unspecified compensation for damages and the quick elimination of the faked AI comedy particular.
Beneath the lawsuit, Carlin’s property is in search of the quick elimination and destruction of all copies of the faked particular, alongside an unspecified determine for damages. “The Dudesy Particular is a bastardization of Carlin’s actual work and his legacy,” the grievance alleges. “George Carlin, if he had been alive at present, could effectively have commented upon the matters mentioned within the Dudesy Particular, however he would have had management over what these feedback had been.”
The faked particular has been extensively condemned by Carlin’s followers and members of the family, who consider it to be a mockery of the late comic’s work. “My dad spent a lifetime perfecting his craft from his very human life, mind and creativeness. No machine will ever change his genius,” stated his daughter Kelly Carlin in a statement. “These AI-generated merchandise are intelligent makes an attempt at attempting to recreate a thoughts that can by no means exist once more. Let’s let the artist’s work communicate for itself.”
This isn’t the primary time Dudesy has attracted consideration for utilizing AI to imitate notable celebrities. Final April, former NFL star Tom Brady threatened to file a similar lawsuit in opposition to one other AI-generated comedy particular the corporate created utilizing his likeness. The video, titled It’s Too Straightforward! A Simulated Hour-Lengthy Comedy Particular has since been faraway from Dudesy’s YouTube channel.
Issues concerning generative AI’s capabilities to digitally replicate performers’ likenesses and voices performed a visual function within the SAG-AFTRA strike final yr, as actors fought to safe knowledgeable consent and compensation guardrails for AI’s use within the leisure trade. The bipartisan No Fakes Act proposed by US senators last October additionally seeks to introduce legal guidelines that defend performers from being digitally replicated with out their consent.
