The Instagram creator who allegedly leaked Marvel content online might be about to be unmasked. On May 12, news broke that Marvel Studios filed a subpoena with Instagram in order to get information about the popular leak account, CanWeGetSomeToast.
Why did Marvel issue a subpoena to Instagram?
This subpoena is related to an Instagram story post by the well-known ‘scoop’ account, CanWeGetSomeToast. The post, purportedly, contained leaked footage from Marvel’s upcoming movie, “Captain America: New World Order.”
According to TorrentFreak, the subpoena was filed to the Northern District of California court. It allegedly came after a paralegal working for Disney discovered the leak.
Matthew Slatoff, Marvel’s VP of Global Security and Content Protection, said in the legal document that the creator “published a copyrighted image from an upcoming Marvel Studios motion picture, Captain America: Brave New World, without authorization.”
If the subpoena succeeds, Instagram would have to hand over sensitive information related to the Instagram account. That includes “individuals’ names, physical addresses, IP addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, and payment account information.”
Why does this matter for creators?
This isn’t the first time Marvel has gone down the legal route with leakers. In 2023, the company submitted copyright infringement subpoenas to Google and Reddit after a script for “Ant-Man 3” was leaked. However, it looks like Reddit pushed back on this more than Instagram did.
It’s unclear how Instagram will respond to this request to unmask CanWeGetSomeToast. But, perhaps, this can serve as a lesson to similar creators — just because you’re anonymous online, that doesn’t mean it will stay that way.
