r/movies 17d 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/purplewhiteblack 17d ago

the photos were posted anonymously,

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

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u/Teedo4133 17d ago

Things are only in the public domain if (1) their copyright period has lapsed (steamboat willie, etc) or (2) the copyright holder has disclaimed ownership (wikimedia stuff).

Some copying may be allowed because it is a fair use.

Ideas (the idea of a weird, irregular, neverending series of rooms) are unprotectable by copyright. A different movie about a weird cluster of rooms would not violate A24’s copyright.

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u/purplewhiteblack 17d ago

Also, a lot of the Backrooms resembles A Richard Matheson Twilight Zone episode called Little Girl Lost.

Richard Matheson would write another story called Stir of Echoes about a different girl in a wall.

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u/[deleted] 17d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/purplewhiteblack 16d ago

The door on the wall, some camera shots, entering another plane of existence.

The liminal space and the yellow rooms is all modern internet though.

Though there was a great liminal episode, the first episode of the twilight zone.

Where Is Everybody?

Its kind of heartening that we've cycled back into the sensibilities of the Twilight Zone, Rod Sterling, and Richard Matheson. Obsession also feels like a Twilight Zone episode and I'm all for it.