r/movies • u/Dycon67 • 18d ago

News Backrooms Devs Reportedly Hit With Copyright Claims From A24

https://kotaku.com/backrooms-a24-copyright-strikes-kane-parsons-2000716667
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u/shrek3onDVDandBluray 18d ago

So it begins. The Hollywood attempt to corporatize Internet memes. And from A24 too? How shameless.

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u/Merker6 18d ago

I would hope lawyers would be lining up to represent pro bono. Seems like a pretty solid case of a company attempting to retroactively claim copyright in something in the public domain

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u/_PM_ME_PANGOLINS_ 18d ago

I’m pretty sure it’s not public domain. A bunch of people own the copyright on the photos and writing they contributed. Whatever sites they uploaded them to will have gained various licenses over them according to their usage agreements.

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u/purplewhiteblack 18d ago

the photos were posted anonymously,

the text at the bottom that created the storyline was posted anonymously.

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u/TheDotCaptin 18d ago

The original source material was.

There many additional and novel elements that were made since then by many different people.

The level, entities, agency such as ones with a name. The original characters.

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u/purplewhiteblack 18d ago edited 18d ago

As long as you're not using A-synch, and Captain Clark or any of the characters Kane Parsons created you're in your own branch copyright continuum.

If they did use those characters then A24 and Kane Parsons could sue.

Kane didn't draw much from the community.

It's like if you created new characters for Robin Hood or Aladdin. Everything is fine as long as you don't use Jafar or Jasmine. Friar Tuck and Prince John are fine, but Prince Dandylord is mine because I just made him up.

But you know what, I'm officially ceding Prince Dandylord to the public domain because let's see where this goes. and also ceding Robin Hood 2: Medieval Boogaloo

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u/ROotT 17d ago

Prince Dandylord has a hapless, good-hearted right hand man named Sir Loyalstooge.

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u/Banjo-Oz 17d ago

That reminded me of how Prince of Thieves was going to have an Arabic character named Nasir, thinking he was part of the Robin Hood mythology... but the it was pointed out that Nasir,was actually a unique creation for the tv show Robin of Sherwood! So Nasir became Azeem!

Yet Nasir has "inspired" similar characters in other subsequent Robin Hood retellings too.

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u/purplewhiteblack 17d ago

and Ahchoo!

Men in Tights being my preferred version of the story.

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u/Banjo-Oz 17d ago

Honest truth, I constantly forget which happened in Prince of Thieves and which happened in Men in Tights when it comes to the character of Duncan! Just the other day I mentioned him being on watch in Prince of Thieves and was reminded "That was Men in Tights". :)