George Carlin's estate settles lawsuit against podcasters' AI comedy special

There will be no follow-up to that AI-generated George Carlin comedy special released by the podcast Dudesy. In January, Carlin's estate filed a lawsuit against the podcast and its creators Will Sasso and Chad Kultgen, accusing them of violating the performer's right to publicity and infringing on a copyright. Now, the two sides have reached a settlement agreement, which includes the permanent removal of the comedy special from Dudesy's archive. Sasso and Kultgen have also agreed never to repost it on any platform and never to use Carlin's image, voice or likeness without approval from the estate again, according to The New York Times.  The AI algorithm that Dudesy used for the special was trained on thousands of hours of Carlin's routines that spanned decades of his career. It generated enough material for an hour-long special, but it did a pretty poor impression of the late comedian with basic punchlines and very little of what characterized Carlin's humor. In a statement, Carlin's daughter Kelly called it a "poorly-executed facsimile cobbled together by unscrupulous individuals." Josh Schiller, who represented the Carlin estate in court, told The Times that "[t]he world has begun to appreciate the power and potential dangers inherent in AI tools, which can mimic voices, generate fake photographs and alter video." He added that it's "not a problem that will go away by itself" and that it "must be confronted with swift, forceful action in the courts." The companies... Continue reading at 'Engadget'

[ Engadget | 2024-04-03 07:52:24 UTC ]

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Rewriting the historical epic: African women writers go big

Petina Gappah’s “Out of Darkness, Shining Light” is the latest example of a new generation of African novelists reinventing historical fiction. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2019-10-03 17:21:00 UTC ]
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When Will Ben Lerner Admit He’s a Novelist?

In 2012, a colleague and I decided to curate an interview series for the website where we then worked; we boldly and cleverly titled said series The Future of American Fiction. Yes, imagine it in (internet) lights. Per the title, we asked a handful of young and formally or thematically... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-09-30 08:48:58 UTC ]
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Psst: Novelists – Steal These Screenwriting Secrets! Part 3 Query Letters

In part 3 of "steal these screenwriting secrets," we delve into marketing and query letters. In other words, these are screenwriting secrets to steal after you write and specifically related to crafting killer query letters. The post Psst: Novelists – Steal These Screenwriting Secrets! Part 3... Continue reading at Writer's Digest

[ Writer's Digest | 2019-09-30 01:46:56 UTC ]
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DSC Prize for South Asian Literature Releases Its Longlist

The 2019 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature's 15-title longlist includes seven debut novelists and was chosed from 90 submissions this year. The post DSC Prize for South Asian Literature Releases Its Longlist appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-09-27 11:30:31 UTC ]
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You’re on Your Way: An Interview with Jamie Mason

IF YOU ASK a group of crime novelists to list the most exciting stylists working today, Jamie Mason’s name is bound to come up. In many thrillers, the language is workmanlike — plain, even. The suspense is the point; the sentences are the delivery system. In Jamie’s books, however, the words... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2019-09-22 19:00:08 UTC ]
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Laila Lalami, Colson Whitehead among National Book Award fiction nominees

10 novelists make the National Book Awards fiction longlist: Laila Lalami, Colson Whitehead, Ocean Vuong, Julia Phillips and more. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-09-20 18:20:50 UTC ]
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Here are the 10 best lines from Vulture’s profile of “book-fluencer” Zibby Owens.

First, can we all agree that it should be “lit-fluencer”? Moving on: 1. “Gertrude Stein had time to read books. But do moms?” 2. “Owens’s dinner will be in a decidedly lower key: a gingham tablecloth, uniformed servers passing out pigs in blankets, Zibby’s kids popping in occasionally to whisper... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-09-17 19:31:52 UTC ]
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“Between the Facts”: A Conversation with Monique Truong, by Renee H. Shea

Interviews Renee H. Shea Monique Truong / Photo © Haruka Sakaguchi Monique Truong, who came to the United States in 1975 as a refugee from Vietnam, began exploring untold and ignored histories in her first novel, The Book of Salt (2003), told through... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2019-09-17 13:54:26 UTC ]
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What we're reading August 2019

Lowborn by Kerry HudsonKerry Hudson is best known for her award-winning fiction. Her first book, Tony Hogan Bought Me An Ice-cream Float Before He Stole My Ma, won the Scottish First Book Award and earned her a place on the Granta Best of Young British Novelists list. Her latest book, Lowborn,... Continue reading at British Council global

[ British Council global | 2019-08-30 08:51:45 UTC ]
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Tales of The Handmaid’s Tale

How The Handmaid’s Tale keeps going, with Margaret Atwood, Ann Dowd, and novelists Louise Erdrich and Megan Hunter. Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2019-08-29 21:00:04 UTC ]
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The Matrix 4 is happening, and Aleksander Hemon and David Mitchell wrote the script.

Welcome back to the 90s. (And, I guess, the early 2000s.) As Variety reports, there is officially a fourth Matrix film in the works, with Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss back in the saddle as Neo and Trinity. Lana Wachowski will direct; she also wrote the script with novelists Aleksandar Hemon... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-08-20 20:44:00 UTC ]
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The Writer’s Alibi: My Terrible, Dreadful, Hope-the-FBI-Doesn’t-Look-at-This Search History

The internet search histories of novelists can be quite disturbing. Writer Kathleen Valenti shares the methodology behind web searches for her newest medical mystery. The post The Writer’s Alibi: My Terrible, Dreadful, Hope-the-FBI-Doesn’t-Look-at-This Search History by Kathleen Valenti appeared... Continue reading at Writer's Digest

[ Writer's Digest | 2019-08-20 14:00:45 UTC ]
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Experiments in Postcapitalism: On Dempow Torishima’s “Sisyphean”

SCIENCE FICTION HAS BEEN mapping the topography of a yawning postcapitalism since the cyberpunk movement of the 1980s, a laborious undertaking still ongoing in the 21st century. Before cyberpunk, Deleuze and Guattari pointed the way in their books on capitalism and schizophrenia; after... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2019-08-03 12:30:19 UTC ]
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When Novelists Become Method Actors

During one of my first open mics in New York City, the comic running the mic tapped me on the elbow after my set and said, “Hey, you’re funny!” She sounded surprised. I was, too. Being funny wasn’t my main goal. I was there to spy on comics, trying to experience the highs and lows […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-07-31 08:49:06 UTC ]
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12 Novels about Historical Women to Inspire a Better Future

The Spanish philosopher and poet George Santayana once said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” As a genre, historical fiction allows us to shuttle back in time to stand in the shoes, clogs, chopines, and go-go boots of people—real and imagined—to consider the... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2019-07-15 11:00:13 UTC ]
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Summer reading: dive into the perfect book

As publishers vie to persuade us to pack their titles for the holidays, we chart the evolution of the ’beach read’Summer reads, beach reads, holiday reads … at this time of year, the publishing world works itself into a sweat trying to force its novels into our carry-on luggage, or over the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-07-14 07:00:23 UTC ]
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Can Sci-Fi Writers Prepare Us for an Uncertain Future?

Businesses and public policy makers are tapping novelists to imagine the path forward. But how much stock should we put in the predictions of storytellers? Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2019-07-12 13:00:00 UTC ]
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The Writers Who Left: Cuban Exile and What Comes Next, by Margaret Randall

Cultural Cross Sections Margaret Randall Children’s choir at the 2014 La Matanza Book Fair / Photo by Mauro Rico / Ministerio de Cultura de la Nación / Flickr When good engineers or scientists emigrate, they are able to continue their work. Novelists... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2019-07-10 21:07:28 UTC ]
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Hodder to publish 'unforgettable' new Grisham thriller

Hodder & Stoughton will publish the “unforgettable” new thriller from John Grisham, about a man’s wrongful conviction and one courageous lawyer’s bid to exonerate him, later this year. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-07-10 17:38:07 UTC ]
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Viewfinders: 10 Y.A. Novelists Spin Fiction From Vintage Photos

The New York Times invited Asian-American authors to choose photos from our archives and write short young-adult fiction inspired by them. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2019-06-28 17:18:37 UTC ]
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