The writer of the 1989 Patrick Swayze picture Road House is suing Amazon for allegedly violating his copyright in the remake, according to The Los Angeles Times. Screenwriter R. Lance Hill claims that in order to complete the new production before the copyright expired, Amazon and MGM Studios used artificial intelligence (AI) to clone the voices of the actors.
According to Hill, he submitted a petition to regain ownership of his original screenplay—which serves as the inspiration for the next movie—to the US Copyright Office in November 2021. At the time, Amazon Studios possessed the rights as a result of acquiring MGM, but they were scheduled to expire in November 2023. According to Hill, the rights would return to him after that.
According to the lawsuit, Amazon Studios rushed ahead with the project anyway in order to finish it before the copyright deadline. Since it was stymied by the actor’s strike, Hill alleges Amazon used AI to “replicate the voices” of the actors who worked in the 2024 remake. Such use violated the terms of the deal struck between the union and major studios including Amazon.
The claim is complicated by the fact that Hill signed a “work-made-for-hire” deal with the original producer, United Artists. That effectively means that the studio hiring the writer would be both the owner and copyright holder of the work. Hill, however, dismissed that as “boilerplate” typically used in contracts.
The lawsuit seeks to block the release of the film, set to bow at SXSW on March 8th before (controversially) heading direct to streaming on Prime Video on March 21.
Amazon denies the claims, with a spokesperson telling The Verge that “the studio expressly instructed the filmmakers to NOT use AI in this movie.” It added that if AI was utilized, it was only done in early versions of the films. Later on, filmmakers were told to remove any “AI or non-SAG AFTRA actors” for the final version. It added that other allegations are “categorically false” and that it believes its copyright on the original Road House has yet to expire.
