this post was submitted on 26 Jan 2024
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George Carlin Estate Files Lawsuit Against Group Behind AI-Generated Stand-Up Special: ‘A Casual Theft of a Great American Artist’s Work’::George Carlin's estate has filed a lawsuit against the creators behind an AI-generated comedy special featuring a recreation of the comedian's voice.

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (11 children)

Ive been thinking about this a lot and if you think about this like they are selling a stolen product then it can be framed differently.

Say I take several MegaMan games, take a copy of all the assets, recombine them into a new MegaMan game called "Unreal Tales of MegaMan". The game has whole new levels inspired by capcom's Megaman. Many would argue that the work is transformative.

Am I allowed to sell that MegaMan game? I'm not a legal expert but I think the answer to that would generally be no. My intention here is to mimic a property and profit off of a brand I do not own the rights too.

Generative AI uses samples of original content to create the derivative work to synthesize voices of actors. The creator of this special intention is to make content from a brand that they can solely profit from.

If you used an AI to generate a voice like George Carlin to voice the Reptilian Pope in your videogame, I think you would have a different problem here. I think it's because they synthesized the voice and then called it George Carlin and sold it as a "New Comedy Special" it begins to fall into the category of Bootleg.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I think it’s because they synthesized the voice and then called it George Carlin and sold it as a “New Comedy Special” it begins to fall into the category of Bootleg.

Except this is untrue. They were very open that this wasn't Carlin, but an ai learning from him and mimicking his style.

The better comparison is that to an Elvis impersonator who sings song they themselves wrote explicitly in the style of Elvis and try to sound like him.

I think ai changes the game and we need to rethink the laws, but I don't see this case lasting long in court, unless there is some law I don't know about.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

They also weren’t selling it as far as I know. They put the whole thing on YouTube and prefaced with this is an AI trying to recreate a Carlin stand up set.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I would disagree on the selling point. If you provide something for "free" that is advertisement supported, you sold it to an advertiser.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago
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