By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 8 seconds ago

For horror fans, it’s been one hell of a summer. Blockbusters like The Mandalorian and Grogu and Supergirl flopped while spooky movies made money hand over fist. One of the most successful scary movies was Backrooms, which made horror history: 19-year-old Kane Parsons became the youngest director to have a movie debut at number one at the box office. The success of both Parsons and his film helped cement A24, the studio behind Backrooms, as a champion of creativity and independent art. Unfortunately, they just decided to torch that reputation for the most predictable reason of all: money.

On July 15, a Reddit user posted seeming proof that his Backrooms-inspired shirt had been yanked off of Redbubble because of a copyright strike from “A24 Films, LLC.” The problem here is that the user wasn’t selling an image from Parsons’ film; rather, it was an image from the original viral image that kicked off the whole Backrooms craze. Other users made similar claims that their Backrooms art and games have been taken down by A24. Now, the latest wrinkle in this bizarre tale? Parsons himself convinced the studio to drop its copyright claims, effectively giving the hottest horror IP back to the fans who made it.

A Haunting Betrayal

At first glance, it may not seem that surprising that A24 went after creators who are profiting off Backrooms. After all, they just released a film of that same name, one that quickly established itself as one of the biggest movies of the summer. It only makes sense for the studio to protect its IP, right? However, A24 doesn’t actually own Backrooms; they only own the interpretation they hired Kane Parsons to correct. When news of the copyright claims first began circulating on the internet, it caused fans to ask the obvious question: how does the studio have legal standing to copyright Backrooms projects that have nothing to do with the film?

A24 has very deep pockets (never forget, it was created by finance bros), causing fear that nobody affected would dare to sue the company. That would effectively create a chilling effect, preventing future creators from making money on their own interpretations of the viral Backrooms concept. It’s a concept that is effectively owned by fans, and the studio had no right to threaten other content creators with copyright claims. At least, that’s the sentiment shared by Backrooms fans all around the world. It’s also one shared by the last person anyone would expect: Backrooms director Kane Parsons! When he learned what the studio was allegedly doing, he made a promise on Reddit: “I’m looking into this. Should not be happening.”

Kane Parsons Bites The Hand That Feeds Him

Incredibly, it seems that Parsons spoke to the studio, and his pleas were successful. Recently, A24 very publicly backed down from any attempts to threaten Backrooms content that had nothing to do with the movie. In a statement, the studio wrote the following: “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.” The statement ended with an expression of solidarity for future creators. “We will continue to support the artists who, like Kane, were inspired by it.” 

Thankfully, all’s well that ends well: very soon after users began complaining about these copyright strikes, Kane Parsons himself intervened, getting A24 to back down from their crusade against the fans. However, this incident will be remembered for a long time by fans who once revered the studio. A24 established itself as one of the greatest creators of smart horror films, and the success of Backrooms made them seem like champions of young voices with fresh ideas. But between the company’s recent AI partnership with Google and the recent alleged attempts to copyright material they don’t even own, the studio has seemingly become the greatest enemy of actual creatives.

The ultimate spooky auteur studio being far scarier than anything they have created? Now, that’s what I call elevated horror!

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Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to today’s Connections.

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 14 seconds ago

There are plenty of funny shows on television right now. For my money (at least, what isn’t invested in Wolf Cola), none can compete with It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, the long-running sitcom that began way back in 2005. Now, the award-winning show is about to premiere its 18th season on August 17, and fans are understandably excited. Much of that excitement disappeared, however, when the fandom took a look at the most recent advertisement for the show.

Recently, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia released a new poster to help advertise the upcoming season. The poster re-imagines the cast of the show as beer tap handles. The ad looks ugly and more than a little surreal, and it didn’t take fans long to blame the uncanny design of the advertisement on AI. Accusations that the show had embraced generative slop spread like wildfire across the internet. Eventually, the show shut down these rumors in the most direct way: by releasing a behind-the-scenes video demonstrating how the controversial poster was created by actual humans.

Bad Art On Tap

The poster for Season 18 of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is meant to emphasize well-known traits of its quirky characters. For example, Dennis is the tap handle for a “golden lager” to remind us that he’s the golden god, and “Charlie’s Rat Bash Draft” reminds us of his brutal extermination exploits around the bar. Frank, meanwhile, is the handle for a “Rum Ham Sour” that reminds us of his sloshy swine invention. Conceptually, all of this is very fun and filled with winking references to past episodes. There’s just one problem: the uncanny art makes the whole thing look like AI slop.

Almost as soon as the poster dropped, fans began questioning if it was generated by AI. The very possibility disappointed countless fans because the real strength of It’s Always Sunny has always been the human creativity at the heart of the show. It’s an open secret that AI is used by lazy creators who are eager to cut corners, reducing quality in the name of saving a couple of bucks. The fandom began collectively asking the hard questions: had the best comedy on TV sold out, and was this AI slop an early warning that Season 18 would suck? Fortunately, the creators of the show put all our fears to rest by releasing a video showing how the poster was created. 

Busting The AI Slop Myth

The video is fairly methodical, showing exactly how the poster was designed. Releasing that video successfully silenced persistent rumors that It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia was embracing AI slop as part of its creative decisions. However, the video fails to answer another burning question: why did the artists go with an aesthetic that is so otherwise indistinguishable from generative AI? To be perfectly blunt, nobody would have made an accusation in the first place if the poster wasn’t so weirdly ugly. However, some fans have a theory that all of us fell for a stunt that would impress even Thunder Gun.

You see, one of the themes that Season 18 of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia will explore is “withstanding job loss at the hands of workplace automation.” We don’t know exactly how the show will explore that issue, but what better way to prepare the fandom than by making everyone worry their favorite show was now relying on AI? It’s entirely possible that all of us who fretted over the possibility of slop have been led to the same conclusion the show wants us to reach: namely, that we should hate the slop aesthetic and emphatically reject any creators who use AI as a shortcut.

If you’re wondering how the show will tackle the evils of workplace automation, you won’t have to wait very long to find out. Season 18 of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia premieres on August 17 on FXX. We can look forward to 10 more episodes of delightfully deranged entertainment featuring everything from the danger of conspiracy theories to more misadventures with the McPoyles. And if we’re really lucky, maybe Dennis and Mac will find their own use for generative AI: finally creating yet another sequel to Lethal Weapon! 

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