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The creators of the video are accused of violating copyright and “humiliating Karlin’s creative heritage” .
As The Verge reports, George Carlin's heirs are suing media company Dudesy, which used artificial intelligence to create an hour-long comedy video that imitates the voice and style of the deceased comedian. The complaint states that Carlin's copyrighted material was used without permission or appropriate licenses, and calls the video “a computer-generated clickbait that diminishes the value of the comedian's comedic work and harms his reputation.”
The AI-generated video, titled “George Carlin: I’m Glad I’m Dead,” was published on the YouTube channel of the Dudesy podcast on January 9 and has since received more than half a million views. Podcast hosts Will Sasso and Chad Kultgen, also named in the lawsuit, responded to the complaint by calling AI “a new tool that will be used in all walks of life.”
Meanwhile, Carlin's heirs are demanding immediate removal of the video, subsequent destruction of all copies, and payment of an unspecified amount for monetary damages.
“George Carlin, if he were alive today, might well have commented on the topics discussed in the Dudesy Special, but he could have controlled what those comments would have been.”
Carlin's fans and family members widely condemned the episode as a mockery of the late comedian's work.
“My dad spent his entire life perfecting his craft through his life, his mind and his imagination. No machine will ever replace his genius,” said his daughter Kelly Carlin. “These AI-created products are attempts to recreate intelligence that will never exist again. Let's let the artist's work speak for itself.”
This isn't the first time Dudesy has gained attention for using AI to imitate celebrity creativity. Last April, former NFL star Tom Brady threatened to file a similar lawsuit against another comedy created by artificial intelligence in his image. The video, titled “It’s Too Easy!” has since been removed from the channel.
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George Carlin became famous as a stand-up comedian, in particular for his themes critiquing American public morality and religion. He was also one of the first to openly use obscene language during his speeches, for which he was arrested several times. It is he who owns the famous phrase: “The planet is fine. The people are fucked”.
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