Lance Hill Sues Amazon For Remaking The 1989 "Road House" Film That Uses AI Voice

Amazon was sued by Lance Hill. (photo: x @AIEncryped)

JAKARTA - Writer Lance Hill sued Amazon.com on Tuesday 27 February to stop remaking the 1989 film "Road House". He argued that the film violated its rights in the original script.

Hill stated in a lawsuit in California's federal court that Amazon never got a license to recreate its script after he retook his copyright. He demanded an unspecified amount of compensation and a court order to stop Amazon from distributing new licensed films.

The remake, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, is scheduled to premiere at the South by Southwest festival in Texas on March 8 and will then be broadcast on Amazon's Prime Video streaming platform on March 21.

Amazon MGM Studios spokesman said the lawsuit was "absolutely baseless."

Hill's lawyer, Marc Toberoff, said major studios should "respect the basic rights and the work of creator artists who are the basis of their wealth."

The lawsuit says Hill wrote the script for "Road House" in 1986 and transferred his rights to film producer United Artists at the end of that year.

The United States copyright law allows artists to end transfers and take back their rights after decades under circumstances. Hill told the court that he informed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which owns the United Artists, in 2021 that he is taking back his right to the manuscript.

MGM is said to have responded that Hill could not take back the copyright.

Amazon acquired MGM in March 2022. Hill said he got his copyright back last November, and that Amazon set a deadline for completing films the day before the end became effective.

Hill said Amazon was taking "extreme measures" to meet the deadline, including using artificial intelligence to reconstruct actors' voices during the Screen Actors Guild strike, but did not complete the film until January.

Amazon's spokesman denied that the remake used artificial intelligence instead of actor's voice.