George Carlin’s estate has filed a lawsuit against the digital media firm that created an hour-long comedy special featuring an AI-generated version of the comedian that racked up nearly half a million views on YouTube but faced backlash from the deceased comedy icon’s fans and family members.
FILE PHOTO: Comedian George Carlin goes through his routine during one of two benefit concerts for ... [+]
In a filing made with a California federal court, Carlin’s estate alleges Dudesy, along with comedian Will Sasso, podcaster Chad Kultgen and others involved in the project, “created a script for a fake George Carlin comedy special” using copyrighted material.
The suit accuses the defendants of using Carlin’s work without seeking consent or offering compensation.
Carlin’s estate is seeking an unspecified amount of damages and immediate removal of all the video and audio copies of the special—which at the time of publishing remains live on YouTube.
The Dudesy video, which uses an AI-generated voice that mimics Carlin and material that apes his style of comedy, has garnered more than 496,000 views as of early Friday.
The suit alleges the defendants “sought to capitalize on the name, reputation, and likeness” and claims association with the AI-generated content is “harmful to Carlin’s reputation, his legacy, and to the value of his real work.”
The plaintiffs also express concern that the Dudesy AI-generated special may “improperly” serve as the only point of reference about Carlin for many young people who watched the comedian before.
“The Dudesy Special is a bastardization of Carlin’s real work and his legacy. George Carlin, if he were alive today, may well have commented upon the topics discussed in the Dudesy Special, but he would have had control over what those comments were,” the suit adds.