Sylvanian Drama, the social media account beloved by brands and 3.5 million followers on TikTok and Instagram, could soon be back with a different name after its latest brand-deal related lawsuit was settled.
Since its inception, the account, which is run by creator Thea von Engelbrechten, has featured “Calico Critters” (known as “Sylvanian Family” dolls outside the US and Canada) in R-rated situations. The account recently went dark after the Calico Critter toymaker Epoch filed a lawsuit alleging copyright and trademark infringement and accusing von Engelbrechten of profiting off Epoch’s intellectual property without its permission.
That suit has now been resolved through a confidential settlement, according to a press release from Epoch. The company did not respond to Marketing Brew’s request for comment.
It wasn’t the first time Epoch had tried (and backed down from) legal action against von Engelbrechten. In 2023, the company filed a a Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown notice with TikTok, claiming that von Engelbrechten violated fair use laws, which led to a brief shutdown of the Sylvanian Drama TikTok account in 2024 before the platform reinstated it as a parody account, much to fans’ delight.
In the most recent suit, initially filed in April, Epoch focused on Sylvanian Drama’s deeper venture into brand deals, which Joe Lawlor, advertising and IP lawyer at law firm Haynes Boone, told us can strengthen these kinds of cases. According to court documents, Epoch sought up to $150,000 in damages per work infringed, including for sponsored content with brands like Sephora, Away, Marc Jacobs, Kate Spade, Burberry, Netflix, Supergoop, and Taco Bell. (In the lawsuit, Epoch also cited von Engelbrechten’s interview with Marketing Brew last year, in which she stated that she had always wanted to work in advertising.)
“What [Epoch was] going for is that this account was really a marketing/advertising device,” Lawlor said. “It’s all about these brand partnerships [and] trying to paint this account as one that’s not really a creative outlet or parody, but instead one to market products.”
Lawlor, who has no connection to the Epoch lawsuit, said he doesn’t think the trademark claims on the dolls’ likeness were based on a particularly strong argument, but it’s possible that a court could have found merit in the claims that von Engelbrechten used Epoch’s IP to generate profit, rather than simply parodying the brand, he said. Von Engelbrechten indicated in a recent post that the Sylvanian Drama name and profile picture will be replaced.
While Epoch’s suit is wrapped, there could still be risks for brands that choose to partner with parody creators.
Big reputation?
While there can be reputational risks that come with being named in lawsuits, Lawlor noted that there didn’t appear to be any blowback on Sylvanian Drama or the brands that partnered with the account, but rather on Epoch, at least based on online chatter.
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“People [were] just upset that they [were] not seeing the content that they love on TikTok and that all [seemed] to be directed at Epoch and Calico Critters,” he said.
Von Engelbrechten is not the first creator to have used Calico Critters toys in parody content, and fans of her page criticized the lawsuit, saying Epoch should be thanking her (or even hiring her) for generating renewed interest in the toys, which first debuted in 1985.
While Lawlor said he understood Epoch’s potential concerns around the use of Calico Critters in brand partnerships and ad content outside of its control, he noted that the toymaker placed itself in a sticky situation by suing an account with a strong fanbase.
Noting for next time…
Brand partners seem to have been spared in Epoch’s lawsuit, both in reputation and legal risk. While none of the brands were named as co-defendents in the suit, Lawlor said it’s not out of the realm of possibility for brand partners of parody accounts, and that marketers should be aware of certain nuances.
“If you’re looking at the engagement agreement between the brand and the influencer, it might not be clear to someone in legal, who maybe isn’t a prolific TikTok user, what these videos are actually going to end up looking like,” he said.
Lawlor advised brand marketers to consider reviewing any intellectual property being used by creator partners. “When you’re engaging a content creator, think about whether or not they’re using a third party's IP not just because you want to protect the content creator, but because you also want to protect yourself and your brand from potential reputational damage,” he said.
He recommends that brands always review content before it’s posted and to ensure that marketing and legal teams are always talking to limit any possibility of liability that could come with a partner account posting third-party IP.
“Oftentimes, issues like this arrive from a breakdown in that line of communication,” he said.
Return of critter content?
With the suit now settled, it’s possible that Sylvanian Drama, or its next iteration, could soon return to people’s FYPs (although whether von Engelbrechten will continue to work with brands remains to be seen.) Lawlor said he thinks Epoch would be smart to try to utilize the following that von Engelbrechten has built through some form of mutual agreement or collab—something that von Engelbrechten herself previously told us she’d consider.
Overall, Lawlor said he wouldn’t want the threat of a lawsuit to dissuade creators from making parody content moving forward.
“I hope that this lawsuit doesn’t stop people from doing creative things on the internet,” he said. “I really don’t think it will.”