Quentin Tarantino has been sued by Miramax studios, after the director publicised that he would be releasing non-refundable tokens (NFTs) based on his critically acclaimed film Pulp Fiction, which was released in 1994.
The planned NFTs would include scenes that never made it to the film, along with art and commentaries about the movie.
What are NFTs (Non-fungible token)?
They are a form of crypto currency in which users gain digital collectibles which exist on blockchains. These are most frequently used for people to own original content.
Miramax the company that produced the classic, however, does not appear to enjoy the sound of the idea. The film studio has now begun to take legal action against Tarantino, as they have started negotiating its very own NFT partnership based on their works (which includes some of Tarantino’s other films, Kill Bill 1 and 2; Reservoir Dogs).
A lawsuit has now been filed by Miramax against the director whose most recent work was Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which was released in 2019. In a statement Miramax has said:
“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 his 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.”
Miramax
Miramax’s relationship with Tarantino has been far from straightforward. With the film company splitting the rights to certain aspects of the film with the director. Tarantino retains the rights to “soundtrack album, music publishing, live performance, print publication…interactive media, theatrical and television sequel and remake rights, and television series and spinoff rights”.
Tarantino’s lawyers released a statement in response to the lawsuit saying that he was well in his rights to “screenplay publication” and added:
“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. This one-off effort devalues the NFT rights to Pulp Fiction, which Miramax intends to maximize through a strategic, comprehensive approach.”
Tarantino’s lawyers
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