Quentin Tarantino sued by Miramax over Pulp Fiction copyright & auction plans

UPDATE: It looks like a simple auction and cryptocurrency NFTS plans are about to turn into a legal battle between Quentin Tarantino and Miramax. As previously reported, Tarantino has announced putting seven uncut scenes from Pulp Fiction up for auction as Secret NFTS on OpenSea, which is the world’s largest NFT marketplace. In a not-so-fast move by Miramax, who holds the property rights to Pulp Fiction, they have filed a breach-of-contract and infringement lawsuit against the director. Miramax proclaims, “Eager to cash in on the non-fungible token (‘NFT’) boom, as widely reported in the media, Quentin Tarantino recently announced plans to auction off seven ‘exclusive scene’ from the 1994 motion picture Pulp Fiction in the form of NFTs. 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. Left unchecked, Tarantino’s conduct could mislead others into believing Miramax is involved in this venture and it could also mislead others into believing they have the rights to pursue similar deals or offerings, when in fact Miramax holds the rights needed to develop, market, and sell NFTs relating to its deep film library.”

As of this writing, Tarantino’s reps had yet to comment on the lawsuit but Tuesday’s filing revealed that the director’s lawyers told Miramax that they “contended that Tarantino was acting within his ‘Reserved Rights,’ specifically the right to ‘screenplay publication’ with the NFT plan. You can read the full lawsuit filing HERE.

ORIGINAL STORY

Fans of Pulp Fiction and Quentin Tarantino may have the chance to own some uncut and never-before-scene moments from the acclaimed 1994 film but you’ll have to join the director in the world of cryptocurrency and NFTS.

Tarantino has announced that he is putting seven uncut scenes from Pulp Fiction up for auction as Secret NFTS on OpenSea, which is the world’s largest NFT marketplace. Tarantino’s statement reads, “I’m excited to be presenting these exclusive scenes from Pulp Fiction to fans. Secret Network and NFTS provide a whole new world of connecting fans and artists and I’m thrilled to be a part of that.” In regards to Secret NFTS, it states that Secret NFTS is “enhanced with privacy and access control features to create hidden content and experiences and give the choice to the owner between publicly displaying ownership or keeping it a secret.”

The auction will also include the “first uncut handwritten scripts of Pulp Fiction and exclusive custom commentary from Tarantino, revealing secrets about the film and its creator.” The statement about the auction goes on to say, “The public metadata of the NFT – the front cover of this exclusive content – is rare in its own right: a unique, never-before-seen, public-facing work of art.”

I can see fans of Pulp Fiction jumping onto this because it’s widely considered by many of his fans to be the best film of his filmography. The movie was a game-changing release back in 1994 and won Tarantino the Palme d’Or at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival. From there the film earned seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture (losing to Forest Gump in a choice that still baffles me), but Tarantino did take home the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Pulp Fiction, which went on to gross over $200 million worldwide, tells several stories of a criminal Los Angeles and it derives its title from the pulp magazines and hardboiled crime novels that were popular during the mid-20th century which, like the film, were known for their graphic violence and punchy dialogue. The movie stars John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Ving Rhames, and Uma Thurman.

Are YOU interested in participating in the Pulp Fiction cryptocurrency auction?