Today, Judge Wu heard oral argument on Elon Musk’s, Tesla’s, and Warner Brother Discovery’s motions to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Alcon Entertainment. I haven’t heard what happened at the hearing today, but Judge Wu did issue a thorough 36-page opinion discussing his tentative rulings. For a summary of this fascinating dispute over an AI-generated image:
The tentative indicates Judge Wu is inclined to rule as follows, subject to the caveat that Judge Wu could change his mind based on oral argument (but that seems unlikely from the thoroughness of the opinion):
- Claim 1 (direct copyright infringement) likely allowed against Elon Musk and Tesla but dismissed as to Warner Brothers Discovery (due to lack of a role in Musk/Tesla’s alleged use of the infringing image).
- Claim 2 (Vicarious infringement) likely dismissed likely without prejudice, based on lack of sufficient allegation of causation of financial benefit under Erickson Productions, Inc. v. Kast, 921 F.3d 822, 829 (9th Cir. 2019).
- Claim 3 (Contributory infringement) likely allowed against all defendants.
- Claim 4 (False affiliation and/or False endorsement under Lanham Act) likely dismissed (likely with prejudice).
UPDATE: Judge Wu followed his tentative ruling and encouraged the parties to settle:
Here’s an excerpt of Judge Wu’s opinion regarding Claim 1 for direct infringement against Musk and Tesla:
This case is somewhat of a sleeper. But its importance is great. It tees up the issue of copyright infringement based on a user’s use of an AI generator and the resulting output, here, an image allegedly substantially similar to a scene from a copyrighted movie.
DOWNLOAD JUDGE WU’S TENTATIVE OPINION