Makers of Conor McGregor and Jake Gyllenhaal-starring 'Road House' accused of copyright infringement and using AI voice cloning

Conor McGregor and Jake Gyllenhaal will star in the 2024 remake of the action movie classic 'Road House.' Unfortunately, Amazon MGM Studious, the minds behind the film, are facing several accusations, among them the use of copyright infringement and AI-generated clones of actors' voices.

Specifically, the makers of the film are said to have used AI technology to recreate the voices of actors during last year's SAG-AFTRA strike, which greatly affected Hollywood. The accusations, made by screenwriter R. Lance Hill, who wrote the original 1989 iteration of the film, comprise a lawsuit filed on Tuesday.

According to The Verge, Hill had filed a petition with the US Copyright Office in late 2021 to regain the ownership rights of the screenplay upon which both the 1989 and 2024 incarnations of 'Road House' are based. However, Amazon MGM studios had full ownership of the film library at the time.

Hill, however, is contesting the finer details. His initial agreement with United Artists, which secured the rights to the original screenplay, which were later acquired by MGM Studios, which has since, in turn, acquired by Amazon Studios under the rebranded name of Amazon MGM Studios, was 'work-made-for-hire.'

This term is one that the US Copyright Office defines as whichever entity hired a party to create a project is both the owner and copyright holder of said project. But Hill disputes this, instead claiming that Amazon had dismissed his copyright claims before accusing them of using AI-generated voices cloned from actors.

This marks an interesting blemish for McGregor's cinematic debut.

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Was Conor McGregor ever approached for another acting role in the past?

As it turns out, 'Road House' is not the first film that Conor McGregor had been approached about appearing in. While the 2024 movie afforded him a much larger role, as he plays its main antagonist, Knox, he was once approached in 2015 to appear on 'XXX: Return of Xander Cage' alongside Vin Diesel.

McGregor would have played a more minor character called Hawk but elected against appearing in the film to focus on preparing for a then-upcoming rematch with Nate Diaz, who had submitted a fight ago. The part eventually went to Michael Bisping, over which he and the Irishman have since feuded.