Miramax Sues Movie Director Quentin Tarantino Over Pulp Fiction NTFs

Quentin Tarantino’s planned non-fungible token (NFT) sale on the cult classic movie Pulp Fiction has run into some legal headwinds with the entertainment powerhouse Miramax.

Movie director Quentin Tarantino is facing a lawsuit from Miramax for copyright infringement after Tarantino announced that he would be auctioning off a collection of non-fungible tokens (NFT) from his movie Pulp Fiction. Tarantino made the announcement at the recent NFT NYC conference.

According to the movie director, the NFT drop would feature “uncut” scenes and “secret” content about the film. Pulp Fiction was released in 1994 and won Tarantino an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

The seven NFTs being sold are from different scenes that were cut from the final film, for which Miramax currently owns the rights.

While Tarantino owns the rights to publish the film’s screenplay, Miramax, the powerhouse entertainment company that produced and distributed the 1994 film, says that the one-time NFT sale falls outside that categorization.

The company sent a cease-and-desist letter to Tarantino to stop the sale, but the director has continued to push forward with his plans.

Miramax attorney Bart Williams said in a statement that the studio has plans to “maximize” the film’s NFT rights “through a strategic, comprehensive approach.”

The lawsuit is complicated by the fact that the NFTs are “secret,” meaning that the tokens are programmed so that only their owners can view the deleted scenes. The studio is suing the director over content that it hasn’t seen.

According to Tarantino’s attorney, the director believes his right to “screenplay reproduction” allows for the creation of the NFT collectibles. Miramax claims that it holds the rights to release NFTs based on the film, and apparently plans to do so.

Miramax alleged breach of contract, unfair competition and trademark infringement in the complaint, which further elaborated:

“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.”