LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) — The Estate of the George Carlin has filed a federal lawsuit against the creators of an AI generated comedy special that borrows the style of the late comedy legend.
The suit alleges that Dudsey LLC, the online media company behind the comedy special, violated Carlin’s publicity rights and infringed on his copyrights.
The hour-long special, which is called ‘George Carlin: I’m Glad I’m Dead’ was posted to YouTube in January, and features a ‘comedy AI’ performing an hour-long stand-up routine of material that was similar to Carlin’s against a backdrop of topical, A.I.-generated images.
The video contains a disclaimer at the beginning, warning viewers that the voice on the video is not George Carlin.
“I just want you to know very clearly that what you’re about to hear is not George Carlin. It’s my impersonation of George Carlin that I developed in the exact same way a human impressionist would,” the introduction to the special said. “I listened to all of George Carlin’s material and did my best to imitate his voice, cadence, and attitude, as well as the subject matter I think would’ve interested him today.”
The lawsuit names Dudesy LLC, Will Sasso, and Chad Kultgen, along with a number of unidentified individuals as defendants in the case, and is seeking an injunction preventing the use of George Carlin’s material for specials or other content distributed by Dudsey, and forcing Dudsey to take down and destroy the existing comedy special.
Plaintiffs in the suit are also seeking disgorgement of profits from the video, along with punitive and exemplary damages, as well as attorney fees.
A representative for Dudsey LLC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
