George Carlin Estate Files Lawsuit Against Group Behind AI-Generated Stand-Up Special: ‘A Casual Theft of a Great American Artist’s Work’::George Carlin’s estate has filed a lawsuit against the creators behind an AI-generated comedy special featuring a recreation of the comedian’s voice.
I mean, fair enough. But what alive person titles their show “I’m glad I’m dead?” Especially since people that know George know he’s dead. It’s almost The Onion level of satire. And once the video starts, it immediately starts with a disclaimer that it’s not Carlin, but AI. Nobody would sit through the entire show only to be dumbfounded later that it wasn’t actually Carlin risen from the dead.
We can’t really go on a case per case basis on this imo. It would start to get silly fast, like it’s okay if the wording makes it kind of obvious as long as it’s dead people.
And ya, everyone knows he’s dead but not everyone knows all of his shows and skit, in a year or two, the AI specials will vastly outnumber the original ones and not all are going to have such an obvious tell in the name.
Don’t get me wrong though, I think it’s fine as long as it explicitly states it’s from an AI or impersonator in the title.
You’re right, it can lead to a flood of new material that could overshadow his old works. But that would basically require it to be as good if not better than his old works, which I just don’t think will happen. Had nobody bat an eye at this, it would have just sunk into obscurity, as is the fate of many creative works. Should more shows be made, I think after the third people would just not even care anymore. Most haven’t even bothered to watch the first, after all.
I also think it will eventually become normalized, it’s hard to keep track of. I also think these lawsuits should be aimed at the platforms for allowing mislabeling and not at the individual creators.
I like Vernor Vinge’s take on it in one of his short stories where copyrights are lessened to 6 months and companies must quickly develop their new Worlds/Characters before they become public domain.