Take-Two Interactive's GTA VI Leak Dragnet Catches Non-Infringing Posts in Mass DMCA Sweep

A recent copyright enforcement effort by Grand Theft Auto VI publisher Take-Two Interactive has highlighted potential overreach in automated and bulk DMCA takedowns. Online brand protection firm Ebrand issued a mass Digital Millennium Copyright Act notice targeting 300 posts on X, claiming they infringed on Take-Two's international WIPO figurative trademark for Grand Theft Auto. However, the sweep affected numerous posts that contained no leaked game material whatsoever.

Among those caught in the dragnet was a post featuring screenshots of public New York court orders and an executive's tweet. The court orders—signed by New York judges—granted Take-Two's request to subpoena Microsoft and Discord for information regarding users suspected of involvement in recent gameplay video leaks tied to the upcoming game. The documents did not mention Grand Theft Auto or GTA, yet the images attached to the post were wiped and the account was temporarily frozen.

The mass filing targeted hundreds of other accounts, revealing a mixture of valid enforcement and questionable strikes. While several flagged posts clearly shared leaked footage from a group identifying as CyberLeek, others included mainstream gaming media coverage. Notably, an archival post from GameSpot promoting a financial news article was flagged and its image removed, even though the visual used was an official screenshot released publicly by developer Rockstar Games for press and public sharing. X's in-house AI Grok was also cited in the takedown batch after responding to a user's query about a leak.

The unprecedented cascade of video leaks has drawn widespread sympathy for Rockstar Games developers whose work has been spoiled early. While Take-Two's desire to track down the sources of the leaks is understandable, the expansive and occasionally indiscriminate nature of the mass filing has raised questions regarding collateral damage in the publisher's legal dragnet.