A24 faces backlash over V/H/S: SCP film due to Creative Commons licensing conflict

A24's New Project and Community Backlash

A24 announced a new installment in the V/H/S horror anthology series, titled V/H/S: SCP, which is set in the SCP Foundation universe. This announcement has generated significant backlash from the SCP community, raising concerns about the film's viability and A24's approach to intellectual property.

The SCP Foundation is a collaborative online horror project, originating as a creepypasta, where users document fictional paranormal entities and procedures. Its narrative is primarily told through wiki entries that mimic official documentation.

Licensing Conflict with Creative Commons

A central point of contention is the SCP Foundation's licensing. The entire SCP Foundation body of work is released under a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 (ShareAlike) license. This license permits anyone to distribute or create derivative works, but it mandates that any such derivative work must also be released under the same free-sharing terms.

A24's claim of "worldwide rights" for the film directly conflicts with the CC BY-SA 3.0 license. This makes it difficult for a commercial film to operate under the required open-source terms, as it would prevent the studio from exclusively monetizing the production.

Lack of Engagement with the SCP Community

Unlike A24's previous Backrooms project, where they collaborated with a popular YouTube creator, the studio reportedly did not engage with the SCP community for this film. The SCP Foundation Wiki, the official hub for the property, stated that they had no communication with the filmmakers, producers, or distributors despite their attempts to reach out.

DrEverettMann, an SCP Foundation Wiki Admin, confirmed that multiple attempts to contact the film's creators since the announcement have gone unanswered.

Previous Licensing Issues

This is not A24's first encounter with licensing issues related to internet-originated content. Following the release of their Backrooms film, A24 faced criticism for filing copyright claims against other Backrooms creators. These claims were later withdrawn after intervention from director Kane Parsons.