The
screenwriter
of
the
1989
action
film
Road
House
is
suing
MGM
Studios
and
its
owner
Amazon
Studios,
accusing
them
of
copyright
infringement
over
the
upcoming
Road
House
remake,
report
the
Los
Angeles
Times
and
The
Hollywood
Reporter.
The
lawsuit,
filed
on
Tuesday
in
the
U.S.
Central
District
Court
in
Los
Angeles,
also
alleges
that
Amazon
Studios
resorted
to
generative
AI
to
clone
actor’s
voices
in
order
to
finish
the
Road
House
remake
during
last
year’s
Hollywood
strikes,
which
largely
shut
down
film
production.
In
the
complaint,
screenwriter
R.
Lance
Hill
reportedly
states
that
he
filed
a
petition
with
the
US
Copyright
Office
in
November
2021
to
reclaim
the
rights
for
the
screenplay
(which
both
the
original
Road
House
and
Amazon
Studios
reboot
is
based
on).
At
that
point,
Amazon
would
have
owned
the
rights
to
Road
House
due
to
the
tech
giant’s
acquisition
of
MGM’s
film
library,
but
the
tech
giant’s
claim
on
the
work
was
set
to
expire
in
November
2023.
But
according
to
THR,
Hill’s
original
deal
with
United
Artists
(which
secured
the
rights
to
the
1986
screenplay
before
being
later
acquired
by
MGM
Studios)
is
defined
as
a
“work-made-for-hire”.
The
term,
according
to
the
US
Copyright
Office,
means
that
party
that
hired
an
individual
to
create
work
is
both
the
owner
and
copyright
holder
of
that
work.
Hill
alleges
that
the
work-for-hire
clause
was
merely
boilerplate,
and
that
Amazon
ignored
his
copyright
claims
and
rushed
production
of
the
remake,
even
taking
“extreme
measures”
such
as
using
generative
AI.
The
lawsuit
is
seeking
a
court
order
to
block
the
release
of
the
film,
which
is
scheduled
to
premiere
on
the
opening
night
of
SXSW
on
March
8th
and
stream
on
Prime
Video
on
March
21st.
Amazon
MGM
Studios
categorically
denied
using
AI
to
replace
or
recreate
actors’
voices
in
statements
to
The
Verge,
with
spokesperson
Jenna
Klein
telling
us
that
“the
studio
expressly
instructed
the
filmmakers
to
NOT
use
AI
in
this
movie.”
“If
at
any
time
AI
was
utilized,
it
would
have
been
by
the
filmmakers
(while
editing
early
cuts
of
the
film)”
“If
at
any
time
AI
was
utilized,
it
would
have
been
by
the
filmmakers
(while
editing
early
cuts
of
the
film)
and
not
the
studio
as
they
controlled
the
editorial,”
Klein
wrote,
adding
that
filmmakers
were
instructed
to
remove
any
“AI
or
non-SAG
AFTRA
actors”
when
finishing
the
film.
Amazon
also
said
that
“numerous
allegations”
in
the
lawsuit
are
“categorically
false,”
and
that
the
company
doesn’t
believe
its
copyright
has
effectively
expired
on
Road
House.
Original author: Amrita Khalid
Comments