SCP's staff say ShareAlike forces A24 to ship its 2027 anthology DRM-free

The wiki's writers publish under a license that invites commercial reuse and asks two things back: credit, and the same license on anything you make from it ^[3]. A distribution plan runs into the second condition.

The staff are not claiming A24 needs their permission to make the film. Their statement says the studio and its partners can produce it, screen it and stream it ^[17]. What they say the license rules out is DRM and, in the statement the Foundation gave AVClub, "any sort of exclusivity with respect to distribution" ^[18]. Since 2021, every V/H/S film has gone out on Shudder ^[10].

The franchise's theatrical history is modest. The original made $1.9 million in 2012, and the second and third films made tens of thousands during limited runs ^[11], roughly 1% to 5% of the first film's gross ^[13].

The wiki describes the penalty for breach as termination. "If anyone were to violate this license, that person or organization would lose all rights to distribute any works derived from the SCP Foundation Wiki," the statement said ^[7]. For a studio, that means a compliance dispute reaches the film's own distribution rights.

Then there is the question of who could sell exclusivity in the first place. The staff dispute the report that A24 acquired worldwide rights ^[14], telling AVClub that Deadline was "incorrect" on that point ^[16], while Deadline reported on Friday that the studio had worldwide rights and a global theatrical release planned ^[15]. Under the license as the wiki describes it, permission went to everyone in advance ^[3]. A meeting with the curators could settle credit and wording, but it cannot withdraw a grant already made to the public.

The Foundation also said the filmmakers have shown "having no interest in engaging with the authors or curators of the material they're adapting" ^[5]. Neither report says which wiki entries the segments adapt, and neither includes a response from A24 or Spooky Pictures ^[12].

More teams are about to be in this position. A24's Backrooms, another horror property that started online, was a record-breaking success, and its performance has reportedly sent Hollywood producers looking through internet communities for more material ^[6].

Any team building on this material has to work out what the license constrains before a launch date exists. It constrains how you distribute. Attribution fits in a title card; ShareAlike reaches the copy itself ^[3]. The license has also already granted everybody the same permission, so no single party has more of it to sell. That leaves a release plan that cannot include exclusivity, with revenue coming from what the license leaves alone, such as the paid screening the wiki says is permitted ^[17]. The staff said they would "love to sit down" with A24, Spooky Pictures and the other companies to discuss how the film could be released while complying with the license ^[8].