The administrators and contributors behind the Grand Theft Auto Wiki have accused Fandom, a large wiki hosting platform, of plagiarizing their content. These contributors previously left Fandom to establish their own ad-free and uncensored GTA Wiki, and now allege that Fandom's paid writers are copying their work wholesale.
According to MonkeyPolice188, an administrator for the GTA Wiki, many of Fandom's recent articles detailing content from Grand Theft Auto Online's Kortz Heist update are direct copies of their own documentation. To support these claims, the GTA Wiki team has shared evidence, including screenshots of text that appear nearly identical between the two wikis, with only minor word changes.
A notable piece of evidence cited involves an article about a new in-game car, the Merula. The GTA Wiki's initial post contained a typographical error, listing the vehicle's top speed as 1870 KMPH. Fandom's version of the article, published shortly after, reportedly contained the exact same erroneous figure, suggesting it was copied directly.
"We really couldn’t have come up with a better trap street if we tried," MonkeyPolice188 stated, referencing the tactic used to catch unauthorized copying. The team also claims to have evidence showing Fandom writers accessing newly published GTA Wiki articles, with publication times on Fandom's wiki closely following the GTA Wiki's own posts, often within minutes.
The GTA Wiki administrators assert that this content copying violates their CC-BY-NC-SA license, which prohibits commercial use of their work. They reported that Fandom banned their administrators when changes were reverted, instructing them to file a DMCA takedown notice. Fandom's legal team reportedly responded by stating that the overlapping material does not constitute copyright infringement, attributing similarities to standard wiki templating and the documentation of identical, real-time game updates.
"Unlike the people plagiarizing our content, none of us are getting paid to edit the GTA Wiki," MonkeyPolice188 wrote. "We don’t have the money to escalate this any further." The team anticipates that Fandom will need to populate its GTA wiki with content for the upcoming Grand Theft Auto VI, and is concerned about the platform's reliance on potentially plagiarized material. They aim to raise awareness about their independent wiki as an alternative to Fandom's ad-laden site.