Why isn’t Sylvanian Drama posting on TikTok? Here’s the legal tea
Tiny tea sets and rabbits dressed in human clothes. You’re not hallucinating, it’s just some Sylvanian Families having a tea party.
If you don’t currently have younger siblings, chances are you’d never heard of Sylvanian Families until Sylvanian Drama took over TikTok. The creator behind the account turned these innocent figurines into stars of chaotic, telenovela-style videos filled with petty drama, existential crises, and woodland scandal.
The cast of characters was originally created by Epoch Company, a Japanese toy brand, which creates themed sets of small animals, including rabbits, dogs, and cats, all dressed as civilians.
But in December 2024, the uploads suddenly stopped, and now we finally know why. Epoch is suing the Sylvanian Drama TikTok creator for causing “irreparable injury” to its reputation. The creator behind @sylvaniandrama, Thea Von Engelbrechten, has reportedly filed a counternotice, arguing that her videos are protected as “parody.”
@gossipsquirls ♬ Fortunate Son - Creedence Clearwater Revival
What is Sylvanian Drama?
It was in 2021 when Thea Von Engelbrechten started posting the drama-fuelled videos. The account has since racked up 2.5 million followers and 67.4 million likes on TikTok.
As described in an article by Vulture, the account posts “soap-opera-style videos, [where] cute critters casually discuss themes such as mental illness, infidelity, substance abuse, body-image issues, and financial struggles.”
@gossipsquirls ♬ BUT I DONT FORGET TOO WELLLLL - jrecs
Some of the account’s highest-performing videos feature scenarios such as hostage situations, having no motivation to work, and marriages falling apart.
@gossipsquirls ♬ Fade Into You - Mazzy Star
Sylvanian Families launched in 1985
For those unfamiliar with the tiny dolls, Sylvanian Families launched in 1985 and were marketed as “an adorable range of distinctive animal characters with charming and beautiful homes, furniture and accessories.”
Usually, the figurines’ stories are quite wholesome, rather the opposite of the plotlines found on Sylvanian Drama. They have picnics by the sea, push the babies on swings, and splash in puddles.
View this post on Instagram
You can collect entire nuclear families, from mummy and daddy to baby triplets, buy houses to home your characters, take them on a narrow boat excursion, and let them chow down on burgers. There is a wide array of sets available to buy in the Sylvanian Families world. This pastel-coloured and rather ‘pure’ world is the one Epoch seems to want to protect by taking legal action against the Sylvanian Drama creator.
The Sylvanian Drama legal challenge, explained
The BBC reports it has seen court documents filed by Epoch with the Southern District of New York on 4 July 2025 that accuse Thea Von Engelbrechten of “infringing the company’s copyright without its permission, causing irreparable injury to its goodwill and reputation.”
Von Engelbrechten’s storyline inspiration, which she said in an interview with Fohr came from “cringey TV shows and early 2000s comedy,” is cited in court documents, according to the BBC.
In the February 2024 interview, she went on to say: “I’m also really inspired by my cats because they are extremely sassy and self-obsessed and can be so cute, but they also have no morals when it comes to killing other animals. I try to embody that with the Sylvanians.”
And asked why she thought her videos were so popular, she told Fohr: “Maybe it’s because it’s coming from the voice of a 22-year-old who struggles with the same things as [they do]. I have a lot of storylines about insecure people, diet culture, toxic men, and sustainability, which I think other girls my age are also thinking a lot about.”
The BBC says that a date has been set for 14 August 2025 for a pre-trial conference, where each side will meet to explore settlement options or prepare the case for trial.
Other content creators facing action from brands
This isn’t the first time a creator or creative has faced pushback from a much bigger brand. In November 2023, Music Business Worldwide reported that Sony Music Entertainment filed a lawsuit against US cosmetics brand OFRA, alleging it had used Sony-owned music in Instagram and TikTok ads without permission.
And it was in June 2024 that the indie band Easy Life had to rename following a legal challenge with EasyGroup, the brand owners of airline company EasyJet. According to the BBC, the band said EasyGroup was suing them because their name was too similar, claiming it would be “unfair” to let the band use the Easy brand name without royalty payments. The band changed its name to Hard Life. And that, it is.
TikTokers are even taking legal action against each other. Last year, an Amazon influencer, who makes a living posting content from her beige home, sued another creator after she noticed the account posting with the same minimal aesthetic.
The situation led many to wonder whether the legal system should protect the ‘vibe’ of a creator. While this is a rather unusual case, I personally wouldn’t be surprised if more started to arise.
