Tesla ‘Blade Runner 2049' Image Use Suit Shaved Again by Judge

“Blade Runner 2049" producer Alcon Entertainment LLC’s image use suit against Tesla Inc. was further trimmed by a Los Angeles federal judge Thursday.

Judge George H. Wu struck claims of Lanham Act violations and vicarious copyright infringement against Tesla and Elon Musk, quickly adopting his tentative ruling after a hearing in the US District Court for the Central District of California.

The producer, stating a desire to mark its distance from the Elon Musk-owned company, sued last year over a Tesla Cybercab promotion that it alleges used an AI-generated copyrighted image from the movie. Alcon, which owns the movie’s copyright, ...