Quentin Tarantino Auctioning ‘Pulp Fiction’ Screenplay NFTs Despite Miramax Lawsuit
Quentin Tarantino is moving forward with an auction for nonfungible tokens (NFTs) of his screenplay for 1994’s Oscar-winning “Pulp Fiction.” This news comes in spite of a lawsuit filed by entertainment company Miramax, which produced the film, that was filed in November 2021. A hearing is set to take place in February, according to the New York Times, which means Miramax could potentially block the auction.
Back in December, representatives of Tarantino denied Miramax’s accusations, which allege a breach of contract along with numerous intellectual property violations.
The Oscar winner announced at the start of November that he was putting seven uncut scenes from “Pulp Fiction” up for auction as Secret NFTs on OpenSea, the world’s largest NFT marketplace. According to an earlier story in The Hollywood Reporter, Miramax sent a cease-and-desist letter to Tarantino after the announcement, but the NFT project persisted. The studio then alleged the NFT project violates their intellectual property agreement.
Tarantino and partner SCRT Labs (which is the creator of a privacy-focused blockchain) will auction seven chapters of the script between January 17 and January 31. Each NFT will represent a chapter of the film, and will include audio commentary from Tarantino.
Per the Times, “Miramax’s lawyers argue that NFTs are unique… Mr. Tarantino’s legal team argues that he is merely reproducing copies of his original script, a right he reserved.”
“Any claim that Tarantino has ‘defeated’ this lawsuit is verifiably false as Miramax’s claims and the litigation remains pending,” Proskauer Rose LLP partner Bart Williams wrote to IndieWire in a statement. “There’s been no attempt to dismiss any of Miramax’s claims by Tarantino’s team, nor have they filed any counter claims or motions against Miramax, and since Miramax filed its lawsuit, the promotional website and Twitter account for the proposed sale have scaled back the unauthorized use of imagery from Miramax films (including Pulp Fiction). For anyone to presume Tarantino victorious at this time by merely filing his response to the complaint is inaccurate, misleading, and premature to say the least.
“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,” Miramax wrote in its lawsuit. “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.”
Per an earlier announcement from Tarantino, the NFTs will offer “a one-of-a-kind” experience that “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.”
