Miramax is suing Quentin Tarantino over 'Pulp Fiction' NFTs
Miramax — the movie studio behind the classic crime movie "Pulp Fiction" — is suing Quentin Tarantino, the film's director, over his planned sale of NFTs from the 1994 film.
The two-time Academy Award-winning director and screenwriter announced earlier this month that he's selling NFTs of seven original scenes from the film, which stars John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson as two hitmen who get into misadventures in the Los Angeles underworld. The NFTs, or "non-fungible tokens," will include excerpts from the original, handwritten script for the film as well as exclusive commentary from the writer/director.
Miramax filed a complaint in Los Angeles on Tuesday alleging that the director infringed on the "intellectual property rights relating to one of Miramax's most iconic and valuable film properties" by offering the sale of the NFTs.
Representatives for Tarantino did not immediately respond to CNN Business' request for comment.
"Upon learning of Tarantino's plan, Miramax sent him a cease-and-desist letter setting forth, in great detail, Tarantino's disregard of Miramax's broad rights to 'Pulp Fiction,'" the suit said. "Wrongly claiming that his narrow Reserved Rights are sufficient, Tarantino remains undeterred and has refused to comply with Miramax's demands to cancel the sale of Pulp Fiction NFTs."
The suit said that Tarantino kept Miramax in the dark regarding the sale and that is "particularly problematic" since the director "granted and assigned nearly all of his rights to 'Pulp Fiction'" to Miramax in 1993.
"Tarantino's conduct has forced Miramax to bring this lawsuit against a valued collaborator," the suit said. "Left unchecked, Tarantino's conduct could mislead others into believing Miramax is involved in his venture."
The suit alleges Tarantino's conduct regarding the sale 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."
"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," Bart Williams, an attorney representing Miramax, told CNN Business. "This one-off effort devalues the NFT rights to Pulp Fiction, which Miramax intends to maximize through a strategic, comprehensive approach."
Each NFT is "minted" on a blockchain to give it a verified identity. This makes them collectibles that can become quite valuable.
"Pulp Fiction" is one of the most influential films of the last 30 years and has a 96% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It is arguably Tarantino's most famous film and helped kick off his iconic career in Hollywood.
The director has helmed several award-winning films including "Django Unchained," "Once Upon a Time ... In Hollywood," and "Inglourious Basterds."
Miramax 就“低俗小说”NFT 起诉昆汀塔伦蒂诺
米拉麦克斯——经典犯罪电影“低俗小说”背后的电影制片厂——正在起诉电影导演昆汀塔伦蒂诺，因为他计划出售 1994 年电影中的 NFT。
这位两度获得奥斯卡奖的导演兼编剧本月早些时候宣布，他将出售这部电影中七个原创场景的 NFT，其中约翰·特拉沃尔塔和塞缪尔·杰克逊饰演两个在洛杉矶黑社会遭遇不幸的杀手。 NFT 或“不可替代的代币”将包括电影的原始手写剧本的摘录以及作家/导演的独家评论。
米拉麦克斯周二在洛杉矶提起诉讼，称该导演出售 NFT 侵犯了“米拉麦克斯最具标志性和最有价值的电影资产之一的知识产权”。
塔伦蒂诺的代表没有立即回应 CNN Business 的置评请求。
诉讼称：“在得知塔伦蒂诺的计划后，米拉麦克斯给他发了一封禁止令，非常详细地说明了塔伦蒂诺对米拉麦克斯对‘低俗小说'的广泛权利的无视。” “错误地声称他狭隘的保留权利就足够了，塔伦蒂诺仍然没有被吓倒，并拒绝遵守米拉麦克斯取消低俗小说 NFT 销售的要求。”
诉讼称，塔伦蒂诺对出售米拉麦克斯一无所知，这“尤其成问题”，因为导演在 1993 年“将《低俗小说》的几乎所有权利授予并转让给了米拉麦克斯”。
诉讼称：“塔伦蒂诺的行为迫使米拉麦克斯对一位重要的合作者提起诉讼。” “任其发展，塔伦蒂诺的行为可能会误导其他人相信米拉麦克斯参与了他的冒险。”
诉讼称，塔伦蒂诺在出售方面的行为也可能“误导其他人相信他们有权进行类似的交易或发行，而实际上米拉麦克斯拥有开发、营销和销售与其深度电影库相关的 NFT 所需的权利。”
代表米拉麦克斯的律师巴特威廉姆斯告诉美国有线电视新闻网：“这个团体选择鲁莽、贪婪和故意无视昆汀签署的协议，而不是遵循明确的法律和道德方法，与米拉麦克斯就他提出的想法进行简单的沟通。” “这种一次性的努力贬低了低俗小说的 NFT 权利，米拉麦克斯打算通过一种战略性、综合性的方法来最大限度地提高这种权利。”
每个 NFT 都在区块链上“铸造”，以赋予其经过验证的身份。这使它们成为可以变得非常有价值的收藏品。
《低俗小说》是过去 30 年最具影响力的电影之一，在烂番茄上的收视率高达 96%。它可以说是塔伦蒂诺最著名的电影，并帮助开启了他在好莱坞的标志性职业生涯。
这位导演曾执导过几部获奖影片，包括《被解救的姜戈》、《从前......在好莱坞》和《无耻混蛋》。
