Musk used 'Blade Runner' imagery at Tesla event despite being denied permission, lawsuit claims

Elon Musk’s love of sci-fi has turned against him. Or at least it has turned into a copyright issue.

Both Musk and his company Tesla are named in a new lawsuit by Alcon Entertainment, a production company for Blade Runner 2049, which alleges the film’s imagery was used in promotional material for this month’s robo-taxi event. Alcon claims it explicitly denied a request for permission from the company shortly before the Cybercab was unveiled, but Musk and Tesla allegedly used the imagery anyway.

Alcon’s complaint includes accusations of copyright infringement and false endorsement, also naming Warner Bros. Discovery, which partnered with Tesla for the event. The dispute centers around Musk’s use of a slide during the presentation that featured a figure in a trench coat surveying a desolate, orange-lit landscape—an image reminiscent of an iconic scene from Blade Runner 2049 featuring Ryan Gosling’s character.

“All of the Defendants participated in its creation, and in its display in the presentation at the event, from a WBDI-owned building and studio lot, on WBDI-owned video screens and otherwise using WBDI-owned technology infrastructure, operated by or in conjunction with Tesla employees, all acting in whole or in part subject to the direction and control of Musk,” the complaint reads.

NEW: The producer of “Blade Runner 2049” is suing Tesla and @elonmusk, alleging they’ve fed screenshots of the movie into an A.I. and using faked images in presentations about autonomous cybercabs. pic.twitter.com/zipkoeLSaj
— Eriq Gardner ✍️ (@eriqgardner) October 21, 2024

The production company behind ‘BLADE RUNNER 2049’ is suing Elon Musk & Tesla for allegedly feeding images from the movie into an AI generator to create unlicensed promo photos.

Warner Bros is also named for facilitating the partnership.

(Source: https://t.co/DwRGvgk75F) pic.twitter.com/H6HWjAS7PB
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) October 21, 2024

Musk, who has openly expressed admiration for the Blade Runner films, even gave the movie a shout-out at the robo-taxi event, saying, “I love Blade Runner, but I don’t know if we want that future.”

Alcon argues that Tesla’s use of AI-generated imagery mimicking the film’s aesthetic was an intentional move to bypass copyright restrictions when an emergency request to use actual film imagery was denied hours before the robo-taxi event. The lawsuit calls this a “bad-faith and malicious gambit,” accusing Musk and Tesla of exploiting the film’s visual style for their own marketing gain.

The lawsuit claims that Alcon Entertainment denied Tesla’s request for permission because of “problematic Musk” and his political and social views. Alcon is also reportedly in talks with other automotive brands for its upcoming Blade Runner 2099 TV series and does not want the film associated with Musk or his companies.

Alcon seeks unspecified damages, as well as a ban on Tesla from distributing the disputed promotional materials.

The lawsuit comes after similar criticism from Alex Proyas, the director of I, Robot, who tweeted that Musk’s new Optimus AI robot copied the design of the AI depicted in the 2004 film.