The estate of one of radio’s most recognizable voices is suing Paramount Global over alleged unauthorized use of a 2008 broadcast in the season finale of its hit streaming series Landman, which they say turned Paul Harvey into, “an unwitting shill for big oil.”
The lawsuit, filed June 23 in US District Court for the Southern District of New York by Paulynne Inc., accuses Paramount of lifting nearly 90 seconds of Harvey’s copyrighted segment “Gas Crisis,” where Harvey laid out oil’s global influence before advocating for alternative fuels – a point attorneys argue was intentionally edited out of the Landman episode.
“In the world of audio licensing, 90 seconds is an eternity,” said Pelosi Wolf Spates LLP Partner Jaime Wolf, lead counsel for Paulynne. “Paramount not only grabbed a long, copyrighted audio clip without our client’s permission, but they also twisted the intent of Mr. Harvey’s words by editing his original broadcast. Mr. Harvey might not have put it this way, but that takes a lot of chutzpah.”
Paulynne’s complaint also notes this isn’t the first time Harvey’s voice has been misused years after his death in 2009. In recent years, deepfake audio clips tied to Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump presidential campaigns surfaced but were quickly withdrawn after cease-and-desist orders. Paramount, however, allegedly ignored multiple overtures to resolve this dispute out of court.
Wolf pointed to Landman‘s reported $150 million production budget, noting that “you have to imagine the producers had a significant fund for obtaining permissions. So it’s baffling that they didn’t approach Paulynne at all.”
The lawsuit seeks injunctive relief, damages, disgorgement of profits, and statutory penalties that could reach $150,000 per infringement.
Paramount has not publicly commented on the filing.
