A24 Is Copyright Striking Backrooms Artwork Older Than the Movie

Summary

UPDATE: 2026/07/18 10:51 EST BY JAMES LUCAS In an official response posted to the Backrooms movie Instagram account, A24 explained, "As Kane Parsons has made clear, Backrooms is one part of an infinitely bigger ecosystem, rife with creatives who have every right to tell their own version of the story. Yesterday we were made aware of an automated claim submitted to Redbubble on behalf of A24 and Backrooms movie. We immediately began the process to reverse it and reinstate the listing. A24 makes no claim of ownership over the yellow wallpaper, the original post referencing it, or any of the community works that have since been built around it. We will continue to support the artists who, like Kane, were inspired by it." Like so many internet phenomena, it’s hard to pinpoint a creator for the Backrooms. The concept originated from an anonymous creepypasta on 4chan back in 2019, a liminal labyrinth that strove to capture the feeling of noclipping out of reality. It quickly took on a life of its own, with other short stories, videos, and even games cropping up out of the urban legend. One of the many to build on the myth of the Backrooms was Kane ‘Pixels’ Parsons, who at the age of 16 created a 9-minute found footage horror that blew up in popularity so much that it led to a feature film. Now, the distributor of said feature film—A24—is retroactively bringing the hammer down on related material that pre-dates the movie. “Creators, beware,” reads a post in the dedicated subreddit. “A24 requested that my Backrooms-inspired artwork be taken down. It is a recreation of the pattern from the well-known 2019 image who started the whole Backrooms lore. I find it disappointing to see a company attempt to claim such a broad connection to a concept that has been developed, shared, and loved by an online community for years. I would have hoped that A24 would celebrate that creative history rather than take action against independent artists who were, just like them, inspired by it.”...