George Carlin’s estate has filed a federal lawsuit against the comedy podcast Dudessy over an hour-long comedy special that was sold as an AI-generated impression of the late comedian. However, a representative for one of the podcast hosts behind this special admits that it was actually written by a human.
In a lawsuit filed in California District Court by Carlin’s manager, Jerrold Hamza, Carlin’s estate claims that the special “George Carlin: Glad He’s Dead” (soon to be set to “private” on YouTube) It is pointed out that it has been distributed. (after a lawsuit was filed) will appear to have been created by Karlin’s AI, which was trained on decades of material. According to the complaint, that training included, by definition, “copying Carlin’s original copyrighted routines” without permission for the purpose of “fabricating Carlin’s voice and producing Carlin’s stand-up comedy routines.” This includes making “illegal copies.”
“The ‘George Carlin Special’ generated by Defendants using AI is not a creation,” the complaint states in part. “This is computer-generated clickbait that undermines Carlin’s comedic work and tarnishes his reputation. It casually plagiarizes the work of a great American artist.”
The Dudesy special is presented as an “impression” of Carlin, generated by an AI “listening” to Carlin’s existing material “in exactly the same way a human impressionist would do it.” But the lawsuit directly challenges this analogy, saying the AI model is “nothing more than the output produced by a technological process that illegally appropriates Karlin’s identity, while also undermining his actual work and the value of his legacy.” claims.
The use of copyrighted material in AI training models is currently one of the most controversial and unresolved areas of law in the AI field. Just this month, news organizations testified before Congress to refute claims by AI manufacturers that training on news content is legal under the “fair use” exemption.
“I’m a fictional podcast character.”
Despite their presentation as AI creations, as Ars detailed this week, there was plenty of evidence to suggest that Dudesy’s podcasts and specials themselves were not actually written by AI. In response to the lawsuit, a representative for Dudesy host Will Sasso confirmed the same to the New York Times.
“This is a fictional podcast character created by two people, Will Sasso and Chad Krutgen,” spokesperson Daniel Dell told the paper. “The entire YouTube video ‘I’m Glad I’m Dead’ was written by Chad Krutgen.”
Regardless of that admission, Josh Schiller, Carlin’s real estate attorney, told the Times the case will move forward. “I don’t know what they’re saying and whether it’s true or not,” he said. “What we’re going to find out is that they’re going to be expelled. They’re going to submit documents and we’re going to find evidence of how the show was created.”
name and portrait
A human writing a stand-up feature solely inspired by Carlin’s work would be subject to the same kinds of potential copyright infringement claims as the creator of an AI explicitly trained on that work. It is highly likely that you will not be eligible. However, the suit says that even if the special was written entirely by humans, using Karlin’s name and likeness for promotional purposes without permission would be a crime.
“Defendants consistently presented The Dude Sea Special as an AI-generated George Carlin comedy special in which George Carlin was ‘resurrected’ using modern technology,” the complaint alleges. “In short, defendants used George Carlin’s name, reputation, and likeness to create, promote, and distribute the Dude Sea Special, including images of Carlin, Carlin’s voice, and images of Carlin on stage. I tried to use images that were designed to evoke presence.”
The special did not feature any images or videos (AI-generated or otherwise) of Karlin, but the video’s YouTube thumbnail shows an AI-generated comedian with Karlin’s signature gray ponytail looking out at the audience. Image is displayed. The lawsuit also cites numerous social media posts in which Ms. Carlin’s name and image were used to promote the special and the Dudesee podcast.
This creates a “relationship” between the Dudesy podcast and Carlin that is “detrimental to Carlin’s reputation, legacy, and the value of his true work,” according to the complaint. “Worse, if we don’t reduce it now, future AI models could incorrectly associate his Dudesy Special with Carlin, ultimately incorporating the defendant’s imitated version into his Carlin’s actual creative work.” There is a sex.”
Anticipating a possible free speech defense, the lawsuit says the special “has no comedic or creative value unless it purports to be associated with George Carlin” and “satire[s]him as a performer.” “It does not purport to provide independent social criticism.”
Kelly Carlin, the late comedian’s daughter, told The Daily Beast earlier this month that she was talking to a lawyer about possible legal action. “It’s not his material. It’s not his voice. His name needs to be removed because it’s not George Carlin,” she said at the time.
“The ‘George Carlin’ in that video is not the beautiful human being who defined his generation and raised me with love,” Kelly Carlin wrote in a statement obtained by Variety. There is. It’s the extraordinary relationship his father built with his rabid fan base. ”
The suit asks the court to compel Dudessy to “delete, remove, or destroy any video or audio copies of the ‘George Carlin Special’ wherever they may be,” and to pay punitive damages. .
Update: Added information that a spokesperson confirmed that the special was written by humans.
