Quentin Tarantino Sued Over Pulp Fiction Intellectual Property Rights
Quentin Tarantino is facing a lawsuit after announcing plans to release a collection of Pulp Fiction NFTs.
NFTs, known fully as non-fungible tokens, have exploded recently; not necessarily in uptake, but coverage. Hilariously, most people don’t have a clue what they are – or if they do, trying to explain them is a challenge. So, let’s break this down simply: imagine you’re six years old, and you have one of those old sticker books from your newsagent.
Your common stickers could be considered fungible, aka replaceable by another identical item or mutually interchangeable, similarly to how one Bitcoin equals one Bitcoin, rather than being anything special. However, a one-of-a-kind, super-limited sticker isn’t transferable, ergo it’s non-fungible. NFTs are a bit like that, with digital certificates authenticating one’s ownership of something, anything, online.
At a recent crypto-art convention in New York, Tarantino, who wrote and directed the 1994 Oscar-winning classic, announced he will auction off seven uncut Pulp Fiction scenes as ‘Secret NFTs’, all of which will contain ‘secret’ content viewable only by the lucky owner, a press release explains.
‘The secret content itself is one-of-a-kind, has never been seen or heard before, and will include: the uncut first handwritten scripts of Pulp Fiction and exclusive custom commentary from Tarantino, revealing secrets about the film and its creator. The public metadata of the NFT… is rare in its own right: a unique, never-before-seen, public-facing work of art,’ it adds.
3 months ago‘I’m excited to be presenting these exclusive scenes from Pulp Fiction to fans. Secret Network and Secret NFTs provide a whole new world of connecting fans and artists and I’m thrilled to be a part of that,’ Tarantino also said.
However, Miramax alleges it still holds the intellectual property rights to the film, and that Tarantino and his team didn’t consult with the studio prior to pursuing the NFT market. This constitutes a breach of contract, copyright infringement, trademark infringement and unfair competition, the lawsuit notes.
Miramax attorney Bart Williams branded it a ‘deliberate, pre-meditated, short-term money grab… this group chose to recklessly, greedily, and intentionally disregard the agreement that Quentin signed instead of following the clear legal and ethical approach of simply communicating with Miramax about his proposed ideas,’ Variety reports.
Tarantino has yet to respond to the lawsuit.
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Topics: Film and TV, NFTs, Now, Quentin Tarantino
