Production company Miramax has filed a lawsuit against Quentin Tarantino over his plans to sell Pulp Fiction based NFTs.
Miramax alleges Tarantino was planning to sell seven Pulp Fiction NFTs, which it claims would be the intellectual property of the firm. The company is suing the director the internet loves to hate but it looks like the internet has got Tarantino’s back on this one.
NFTs are digital works rendered unique and attached to a specific owner through cryptocurrency technology.
The lawsuit asks a judge to forbid the sale of NFTs and for Tarantino to cover all legal costs due to him violating copyright of the 1994 film.
The NFTs due to go on sale next month include scanned digital copies of handwritten script pages for uncut versions of scenes from the film, with audio commentary and other elements including “secret” aspects, accessible only to the owner.
Creators deserve to have their rights protected from greedy corporations. #Miramax suing over the #TarantinoNFTs collection could create a dangerous precedent. They’ve admitted they have never even seen the content of the NFTs in question.
So why would they have the rights? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/t7CHfbD6EK
— Crypto Chemist #0000 🧪 | Anon #141 𝕊 (@CryptoChem0000) November 17, 2021
The company said they were forced to act to preserve the film’s copyright.
“Tarantino’s conduct has forced Miramax to bring this lawsuit against a valued collaborator in order to enforce, preserve and protect its contractual and intellectual property rights relating to one of Miramax’s most iconic and valuable film properties,” it said.
“Left unchecked, Tarantino’s conduct could mislead others into believing Miramax is involved in his venture.”
“It could also mislead others into believing they have the rights to pursue similar deals.”
Despite often being the butt of many jokes online, it seems like Tarantino has a whole lot of the public in his corner on this one, claiming that Miramax fundamentally misunderstands the concept and purpose of NFTs.
https://twitter.com/scrtoshi/status/1460743358813548547
The lawsuit alleges Tarantino’s attorneys responded to cease-and-desist letters from the company by saying the sales fall under the partial rights he held from the production, including the rights to screenplay publication.
Tarantino’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman said his contract gives him the right to sell NFTs of his script.
“Miramax is wrong — plain and simple,” Freedman said. “Quentin Tarantino’s contract is clear: he has the right to sell NFTs of his hand-written script for ‘Pulp Fiction’ and this ham-fisted attempt to prevent him from doing so will fail.”
Outside of the courtroom, people (with or without legal knowledge) are rooting for Tarantino. Maybe because they just want a chance to get their hands on the most exclusive details of one of the coolest films of all time.
I don’t have anything to say about the Miramax v Tarantino NFT lawsuit, but the complaint does attach the Tarantino contract with Miramax, and the approved cast list for PULP FICTION is a fun read. pic.twitter.com/1ObcV8S3W9
— (((tedfrank))) (@tedfrank) November 16, 2021
Pulp Fiction helped to establish Tarantino in the film industry after coming off the success of Reservoir Dogs. It won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for multiple Oscars. It won a Golden Globe and an Oscar for best screenplay, which Tarantino shared with Roger Avary.
