Like so many Internet phenomena, it's hard to pinpoint a creator for Backrooms. The concept originates from an anonymous creepypasta on 4chan back in 2019, a liminal maze that sought to capture the feeling of not cutting out of reality. It quickly took on a life of its own, with other short stories, videos, and even games emerging from the urban legend. One of the many who built on the myth of Backrooms was Kane 'Pixels' Parsons, who at the age of 16 created a 9-minute horror film that exploded in popularity enough to lead to a feature film.
Now the distributor of said feature film – A24 – is retroactively putting the hammer down on related material that predates the film. “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 image from 2019 that started the whole Backrooms lore. I find it disappointing to see a company trying 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 act against creative artists in history rather than to act dependent in the story. were, like them, inspired by it.”
“Redbubble informed me that the artwork was removed following a complaint filed on behalf of 'A24 Films LLC.' I received no communication from A24 and I cannot independently confirm who filed the complaint,” they continued. “I have disputed the removal and explained that my artwork has been recreated from the original Backrooms image from 2019, not copied from A24's film or merchandise.”
Parsons 'looks into' it, assures it 'shouldn't happen'
It's an unfortunate situation that's quickly becoming the norm as studios lock onto internet properties that are collectively built by entire communities. Just last year Skibidi Toilet creator Alexey 'DaFuq!? Boom' Gerasimov partnered with Michael Bay's production company Invisible Narratives to expand the IP into movies and TV shows, but was allegedly forced to hand over control of the property. Invisible denied the allegations, claiming that Gerasimov chose to step back while remaining an executive producer, but still attempted to copyright Garry's Mod – showing a clear lack of understanding of the history of internet culture.
Thankfully, when it comes to Backrooms, the community has Parsons on its side. In response to the Reddit post, he explained: “I'm looking into this. Shouldn't be happening.” After all, as post author GnarlyNet explained, it sets a troubling precedent for “when big companies appropriate community-created internet culture.” Not to mention that, as they explained in a follow-up comment with photo evidence, they “painfully redid the pattern from the original image in Inkscape a couple of years ago.” If A24 is willing to retroactively target Backrooms content, there is a wealth of community-created content at risk.
