New York (CNN Business)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."
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