Take-Two Interactive’s brand protection vendor Ebrand filed 300 DMCA copyright strikes targeting GTA 6 discussion on August 26, 2026 — locking journalist Stephen Totilo out of his X account for posting federal court orders signed by judges Jennifer Rochon and Andrew Carter Jr., striking GameSpot for using Rockstar’s own official promotional screenshot, and flagging Grok for answering a user’s question about leaked footage. The notices certified public court records and official press photos as “video/audiovisual recording” infringing on Grand Theft Auto intellectual property under penalty of perjury — a trademark complaint filed on a copyright form against content containing neither the GTA logo nor a single frame of the game. Take-Two retracted the strike on Totilo within 24 hours of him pushing back. The same DMCA weaponization playbook was used against Cosmic Book News and other outlets over Lanterns by Warner Bros. Discovery in July 2026, suggesting studios have normalized bulk automated copyright strikes as a PR suppression tool rather than a legitimate copyright enforcement mechanism.
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