SCP Foundation Challenges Backrooms Studio Over V/H/S: SCP Film Rights Claims

Yesterday, it was announced that a film inspired by the SCP Foundation universe is in the works, with A24 at the helm. This collaborative horror project, which thrives on community contributions, operates under Creative Commons terms. However, the SCP Foundation has clarified that it has had no discussions with the filmmakers or producers involved and emphasized that A24 does not hold exclusive rights to any elements of the SCP Foundation.

The news broke last night, detailing A24’s partnership with Spooky Pictures and Image Nation Studios to secure worldwide rights for the film, which is set to be an untitled addition to the V/H/S horror anthology series, dubbed V/H/S: SCP.

Earlier today, the SCP Foundation Wiki’s staff and authors issued a statement expressing their surprise at the announcement, noting they were not consulted or contacted despite attempts to reach out to the filmmakers. For context, Spooky Pictures and Image Nation Studios had already announced V/H/S: SCP back in July 2026 before A24 joined the project.

According to the SCP Foundation’s statement, all concepts, characters, and entities within the SCP universe are protected under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA 3.0) license. This means A24 would not be able to distribute V/H/S: SCP with any digital rights management (DRM) or other measures that would restrict copying. Consequently, any commercial streaming service could stream the film without needing to pay A24, and anyone could upload it to platforms like YouTube.

While I’m not a copyright expert, the argument presented by the SCP Foundation seems quite clear. The Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0 guidelines specify that you cannot impose legal terms or technological measures that limit others from exercising their rights under the license. Anyone who remixes or builds upon CC BY-SA 3.0 material must share their contributions under the same license.

In simpler terms, while it’s permissible to sell something based on a CC BY-SA 3.0 license, doing so means adhering to the same rules. This implies that A24’s V/H/S: SCP could indeed be uploaded to YouTube for free, and any streaming service could do the same without A24’s consent.

However, a potential issue arises if A24 were to disregard these rules and start copyright-striking those who upload V/H/S: SCP to YouTube. A similar situation occurred in 2019 when a Russian individual attempted to trademark the SCP Foundation’s name and logo, using it to restrict sales of SCP products in Russia. The Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service ruled in favor of the SCP Foundation in 2021, leading to the dissolution of the trademark in 2022.

The challenge here is that A24 has significantly more resources than an individual in Russia. The SCP Foundation had to crowdfund its legal expenses in the past, and facing off against A24 would likely require even more financial backing.

Additionally, A24 has previously faced backlash from the Backrooms community for issuing copyright strikes against fan-made games, artwork, and videos earlier this year. Although A24 later reversed these strikes, attributing them to an automated process and clarifying that they did not claim ownership over community creations, the SCP Foundation’s cautious stance is understandable given A24’s past actions.