Is M3GAN Hollywood’s Latest and Greatest Lawsuit?

M3GAN is a 2023 horror film about a doll named M3GAN (pronounced the same way you’d pronounce Megan). From the trailers, M3GAN appears to be a type of robot or artificial intelligence that looks like a life-sized doll. In the trailers, it’s revealed that M3GAN was created by Gemma. Gemma is caring for her niece, Cady, after Cady’s parents were killed in a car accident. Gemma introduces Cady to M3GAN, hoping that the artificially intelligent doll will help Cady cope with her parents’ passing. When artificially intelligent dolls or robots enter the picture, and things go catastrophically amiss, who’s liable?

What Is Product Liability? 

When entities make a product that’s unreasonably dangerous, they’re generally liable for any injuries the product causes. Notice we italicized entities. We’ve gotta be vague here because when it comes to product liability, anyone can be liable for creating an unreasonably dangerous product. From the designers to the manufacturers, even the retailer can be liable for injuries caused by an unreasonably dangerous product. Products may be considered to be unreasonably dangerous when users are put in unanticipated danger by using the product as intended. Let’s say you’re sitting at a stop sign when another car rear-ends you. Due to the design of your car and the location of its gas tank, your car explodes. This is likely a design defect because while you were operating the car as it was intended to be operated, it exploded when it shouldn’t have. The designer should have known that the car may be hit in the rear, therefore it’s critical that the gas tank is not. In M3GAN, a product liability claim would likely be a starting point for personal injury lawyers representing the injured.

Manufacturing Defect:

Is M3GAN Hollywood’s Latest and Greatest Lawsuit

 The trailer implies that somewhere somehow M3GAN turned out to be evil. If this were due to a manufacturing defect, the manufacturer may be liable. Manufacturing defects occur when there’s a defect in the way a product is manufactured that leads to the injury of others. Just last year, thousands of Capri-Sun packets were recalled when they were believed to have been contaminated with cleaning solution. This is an example of a manufacturing defect. A couple of years ago, smartphone batteries were alleged to have begun exploding due to the manufacturing process. If that were true, the manufacturers may be liable for any injuries caused by the exploding batteries. Any time something goes wrong during the manufacturing process, and a person becomes injured, the manufacturers could be liable for a manufacturing defect.

In the case of M3GAN, the manufacturer of the doll may be liable for any injuries she causes if something went wrong during the manufacturing process that caused M3GAN to turn out to be a bad egg. However, it should be noted that M3GAN is a prototype. Therefore, Gemma herself is likely the manufacturer.

Design Defect: 

The person who designed M3GAN, presumably Gemma, may also be liable for any injuries M3GAN causes. Remember the exploding car example? When a product’s design causes the product to become dangerous, that may be a design defect, especially if the designers knew, or reasonably should have known, that the product’s design could pose a danger to users. Gemma should have anticipated that artificial intelligence without any limitations whatsoever would pose a danger to Cady and other potential users. If Gemma had installed safety mechanisms to prevent artificial intelligence from having unlimited power, those might be considered to be mitigating factors. However, even if there are mitigating factors, Gemma could still be liable for the injuries her product causes.

Marketing Defect

Is M3GAN Hollywood’s Latest and Greatest Lawsuit

A marketing defect occurs when there aren’t sufficient safety warnings or instructions.

You know how plastic bags often come with warnings that warn users not to let small children play with the bags? Those are safety warnings. If a feature of a product has the potential to be dangerous, it’s important to have safety warnings. For example, if a medication causes users to become drowsy, there needs to be appropriate warnings so a person doesn’t take the medication and then drives. A marketing defect can also occur in the lack of instructions. Back to the medication example, if a medication does not provide instructions on dosing, that may also be a problem since it could lead to an overdose. From the trailers, it does not appear that M3GAN has been mass-produced. Instead, M3GAN appears to be a prototype. Therefore, she may not come with any warnings or instructions at all.

What about the Employers?

Gemma mentions that M3GAN is a work project, and employers are generally liable for what their employees do. So, her employers may have some liability if they told her to create an artificially intelligent doll according to certain specifications. Even if her employers didn’t know about M3GAN, they may still have some liability. When employers aren’t adequately supervising their employees, it may be considered to be negligent supervision. According to synopses of the film, Funki is the retailer and the product developer. Assuming they do not outsource their manufacturing, they may also be liable for any manufacturing defects. 

When You’ve Been Injured by M3GAN

Is M3GAN Hollywood’s Latest and Greatest Lawsuit

One of the issues with this product liability case is that M3GAN is a prototype, since she is not currently in the stream of commerce, it may be impossible to sue for product liability. Product liability only affects cases where the product is available for purchase. 

Sources: Business Standard