George Carlin‘s estate is getting the law involved over the AI special, “George Carlin: I’m Glad I’m Dead” … suing the creators for the “bastardization of Carlin’s real work and legacy.”
The copyright infringement lawsuit, filed Thursday in a California federal court, is accusing media company Dudesy of condensing 5 decades worth of the influential comic’s standup routines to train an AI chatbot … mimicking his voice and humor for the special — without consent or compensation.
The docs also make it clear they’re not happy with George’s voice/likeness used for promo purposes — rubbishing the special as a “piece of computer-generated click-bait which detracts from the value of Carlin’s comedic works and harms his reputation.”
They’re asking for an immediate removal of the special and destruction of all copies as well as unspecified damages.
The hour-long special featuring a robot version of George doing standup has been available on YouTube since January 9th — and the late icon’s daughter Kelly Carlin-McCall has been the biggest denouncer of the project … releasing a statement stating no technology could replicate her father’s genius.
On live , she echoed the same sentiments … telling us the AI program had her dad’s name, but that’s about where the comparisons end … adding the computer botched her dad’s comedic cadence and just didn’t capture the magic like he once did.
Kelly’s wish to have it removed could likely be granted if Tom Brady‘s recent legal win is anything to go by. The athlete successfully got his own AI-generated comedy special from the same platform removed from the internet.
It’ll be interesting to see how long Dudesy stays in business if celebs keep coming for them!!
