Hi everyone. I thought some of you might be interested in this news, especially any film-buffs out there. News came this week that Miramax has filed a lawsuit against one of their most well-known collaborators, director Quentin Tarantino. The entertainment company (founded by the Weinstein brothers) produced some of Tarantino’s most popular films, including the 1994 film “Pulp Fiction”.
The Lawsuit comes after Tarantino disregarded a cease-and-desist letter sent by Miramax in response to his recent announcement that he would be creating and launching a set of “Pulp Fiction” Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). The NFT set is supposed to include handwritten original script exerts, and uncut scenes from the film. They are also going to include “secrets” that will only be available to the owners of the NFT.
Miramax is claiming that the rights to create such NFTs do not belong to Tarantino as he signed an agreement in 1993 giving Miramax “broad rights” in the property. While Tarantino has not made a public comment, the lawsuit claims that his lawyers responded to the cease-and-desist by saying that the content of the NFTs adheres to the limited rights that Tarantino held, including the right to publish the screenplay.
Since I have no way of accessing the contract signed by Tarantino in 1993, I cannot give much of an informed opinion on whether the content of NFTs would violate the intellectual property rights of Miramax. However, from what I have read it does seem that Miramax’s claim is not based on the proposed content of the NFTs but on the assertion that Miramax alone holds the create to create and auction off Pulp Fiction NFTs. A lawyer working for Miramax told CNN that “this one-off effort devalues the NFT rights to Pulp Fiction, which Miramax intends to maximize through a strategic, comprehensive approach”.
I would be lying if I said that I fully understand NFTs, this being said, I find it strange Miramax is so certain that they own the sole right to create NFTs. I doubt that the 1993 contract would have contemplated something like an NFT. So, I would see no reason that Tarantino would be unable to create NFTs that contain materials that he is entitled to publish.
According to the New York Times “the studio also said in its suit that consumers could be confused into believing that Miramax was associated with Mr. Tarantino’s sale of the NFTs”. I personally find that assertion kind of amusing. I cannot say for sure, but I think that the opposite is much more likely to be true. I feel that if Miramax were to release its own Pulp Fiction NFTs it is very likely that consumers would be confused into believing that Tarantino was associated with the project. I am less convinced that consumers would think that (or care if) Miramax is involved in a Pulp Fiction NFT series. I think that Tarantino is identifiable as the director of Pulp Fiction much more than Miramax is identifiable as the producer. I consider myself a bit of a film-buff but I forgot (if I ever really knew) what production company had produced pulp fiction until I found the news story earlier today.
With the profitable potential of NFTs it makes sense that these large production companies are building strategies to use their properties in NFTs. It also makes sense that they are willing to take legal action to assert a sole right to create NFTs. Some production companies have already released NFTs related to their properties, for example Warner Bros released a set of NFTs that could be redeemed if you purchased “Space Jam: A New Legacy” within a certain period of the films release.
If you want to read more about this subject here is a list of the articles I was looking at:
https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/17/investing/quentin-tarantino-lawsuit-pulp-fiction-nfts/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/17/business/miramax-tarantino-nft-pulp-fiction.html
Communications Law