George Carlin's estate has settled a lawsuit over an AI-generated imitation of the late comedian, with the creators agreeing to remove it from their YouTube channel and podcast feed.
In January, the Dudesy podcast released “George Carlin: Glad He's Dead,” which purports to be a one-hour special created by artificial intelligence. Carlin passed away in 2008, but the feature featured Carlin-esque material in a similar voice on contemporary topics such as transgender rights and defunding the police.
The estate filed a lawsuit alleging that the special program infringed the estate's copyright and publicity rights to Carlin's name, likeness, and likeness.
The Dudesy Podcast is hosted by Will Sasso and Chad Kultgen. Within a week of the lawsuit, they notified the foundation that they had removed the video from their YouTube channel, along with any mention of Carlin from their podcasts and social media accounts.
In the settlement, Carlin agreed to a permanent injunction prohibiting her from re-uploading the video or using her image, voice or likeness on any platform.
Kelly Carlin, the comedian's daughter, issued a scathing statement when the AI-created special was first released, calling it “a poor copy cobbled together by unscrupulous individuals.”
In a statement Tuesday, she said she was happy the situation was over.
“We are pleased that this matter was resolved quickly and amicably, and we are grateful that the defendants acted responsibly in swiftly removing the videos they created,” she said. said. “While it is absolutely unfortunate that something like this happened, this incident serves as a warning about the dangers posed by AI technology and the need for appropriate safeguards, not just for artists and creators, but for all humans on the planet. I hope so.”
SAG-AFTRA is pushing for federal legislation that would make it illegal to create a fake digital replica without someone's consent.
Carlin's estate sued under California's publicity law and for copyright infringement under federal law.
Estate attorney Joshua Schiller said in a statement that the lawsuit aims to protect Carlin's legacy and highlight the threat emerging technologies pose to intellectual property.
“This settlement is a great outcome for our clients and provides a blueprint for resolving similar disputes in the future when artists and celebrities have their rights violated by AI technology,” he said. “This is not a problem that will go away on its own. We must take swift and strong action in the courts, and there must be some accountability from AI software companies whose technology is being weaponized.”
This feature was first published on January 9th. A week later, in response to the backlash, Krutgen said on a podcast that the feature was not written by an AI. Instead, he suggested that the script may have been written by a human and input into an AI voice generator. In any case, the foundation claimed that it was an illegal misappropriation of Carlin's materials.
Schiller said in an interview that he would encourage YouTube and other platforms to remove copies of videos posted by other accounts. However, he noted that there is a “gaping hole” in the law, as there is no guarantee that these platforms will have to comply with such demands, as there is no federal right of publicity.