Why the viral Sylvanian Drama soap operas have gone quiet online
The social media account Sylvanian Drama, which has frequently gone viral for its darkly comedic skits featuring small, anthropomorphic animal toys, mysteriously went quiet this year after it landed in legal hot water with the toys’ maker.
Epoch, the Japanese company behind the toys, sued the account’s creator earlier this year, claiming that she has been “doubling her efforts to exploit Epoch’s copyrights and trademarks for her own commercial gain” despite the company’s attempts to work the issue out amicably.
Sylvanian Families, also known as Calico Critters in the United States and Canada, are felt dolls in the shape of cute, anthropomorphized animals. They were first released in Japan in 1985. The creatures range from bunnies and kittens to squirrels and more, all with wide, black eyes and tiny clothing.
Online, Irish content creator Thea Von Engelbrechten has taken the adorable creatures and given them backstories with mature themes, putting them in real-world scenarios that aren’t as innocent or family-friendly as the dolls themselves appear to be.
Her Sylvanian Drama page has 2.5 million followers on TikTok and 1 million on Instagram. The videos, all of which feature Calico Critters, often rack up millions of views each. In these soap opera-style clips, the critters might be getting drunk, doing drugs, committing violence or doing other unsavory things.
Epoch’s lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on April 7, initially flew under the radar but drew attention online last week when some outlets reported on the situation after noticing months of silence from the account. The Irish Independent was the first to report the lawsuit.
The company accused Von Engelbrechten of copyright infringement, trademark infringement and unfair competition. It stated that she has been prominently featuring Calico Critters products in videos without permission, including for commercial purposes by advertising for other brands’ goods and services. The lawsuit added that she also uses a copyrighted image as Sylvanian Drama’s social media profile picture.
Von Engelbrechten declined to comment. Attorneys for Epoch did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit underscores the potential tensions that can arise when creators use branded materials as drivers of their content. Early gaming creators faced similar legal pushback when using copyrighted games and characters in their videos, for example. The case against Sylvanian Drama is the latest to highlight how the creator economy straddles the line between user-generated content and copyright protections.
Von Engelbrechten’s account has become so popular in recent years that some on the internet have begun to associate the toys with the Sylvanian Drama account more than the official Sylvanian Families or Calico Critters brands. In its lawsuit, Epoch wrote that Von Engelbrechten has caused “irreparable injury to Epoch’s goodwill and reputation,” noting that the brand was originally intended to engage children.
Von Engelbrechten began posting Sylvanian Drama videos in 2021, when she was a 19-year-old multimedia student at Dublin City University. She told The Tab in a 2023 interview that her videos were meant to parody shows like “Gossip Girl” and “Pretty Little Liars.”
“I’m always surprised that I’m not already canceled for the stuff that I do,” she said. “I don’t mean any harm and also … a lot of the issues that I joke about are problems in my own life. There’s a lot of stuff about weight and dieting and people struggling with that, and that’s all just me joking about myself. So I’m not making fun of anyone.”
The account hasn’t posted on any of its platforms since January. Its latest video was a paid partnership promoting “Squid Game” shortly after the release of the hit Netflix show’s second season. (The lawsuit noted that Sylvanian Drama has similarly advertised for the likes of Kate Spade, Sephora, Burberry, Hilton and Taco Bell.)
Epoch claimed in its complaint that TikTok had previously removed allegedly infringing videos from its platform after the company served a Digital Millennium Copyright Act notice in October 2023. But because it was not able to work out a permanent resolution with Von Engelbrechten, Epoch wrote, it “had no choice but to file this lawsuit” this year.
The company, which demanded a jury trial, sought an order declaring that Von Engelbrechten infringed its copyrights, as well as an order prohibiting her from infringing any copyrights in the future. It also asked for damages of up to $150,000 for each copyrighted work infringed, plus all profits made by Von Engelbrechten as a result of the alleged infringement.
According to a court document this month, however, Epoch and Von Engelbrechten are now “actively engaged in settlement discussions” and planning to submit a joint letter with a proposed plan to move forward.
Von Engelbrechten has until Aug. 8 to respond to the lawsuit, with the initial pretrial conference slated for Aug. 14.
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