Miramax's Lawsuit Against Quentin Tarantino May Set Precedent for Classification of Nfts

• Jurisdiction: United States,Federal
• Citation: Vol. 47 No. 1
• Publication year: 2022
• Author: David A. Sergenian
• topic: Contracts,Intellectual Property,Copyright law,Entertainment Law,Civil Procedure

MIRAMAX'S LAWSUIT AGAINST QUENTIN TARANTINO MAY SET PRECEDENT FOR CLASSIFICATION OF NFTS

David A. Sergenian
Sergenian Law

INTRODUCTION

In late 2021, film director and writer Quentin Tarantino announced that he would be selling several NFTs (non-fungible tokens) relating to his 1994 magnum opus Pulp Fiction. Tarantino announced that the NFTs would contain script pages for seven scenes that were not included in the final film, and other artifacts from Pulp Fiction.¹ The release announcing the prospective NFT sales stated that purchasers of the NFTs, which contain the previously unreleased material and other artifacts, will get a "glimpse into the mind and creative process of Quentin Tarantino."² Miramax, LLC ("Miramax"), the successor-in-interest to all rights in Pulp Fiction—other than certain rights that were reserved to Tarantino—quickly sued Tarantino in federal court, alleging, among other claims, a claim for copyright infringement. Determining which rights were granted to Miramax and which rights were reserved to Tarantino likely will require a determination of how NFTs should be categorized in the context of a decades-old agreement. This may have far-reaching implications for future copyright litigation concerning NFTs.

MIRAMAX'S COMPLAINT

On November 16, 2021, Miramax filed a complaint against Quentin Tarantino and Visiona Romantica, Inc. in the United States District Court for the District of Central California.³ Visiona Romantica, Inc. is alleged to be Tarantino's loan-out corporation, of which Tarantino is the founder and CEO.⁴ Miramax distributed the critically and commercially megahit 1994 film Pulp Fiction, which was written and directed by Tarantino.⁵

In 1993, Tarantino and Pulp Fiction producer Lawrence Bender entered into an agreement with Miramax Film Corp., the predecessor in interest to Miramax ("Original Rights Agreement") relating to the production and financing of Pulp Fiction.⁶ Pursuant to the Original Rights Agreement, Tarantino and Bender granted to Miramax "all rights (including all copyrights and trademarks) in and to the Film (and all elements thereof in all stages of development and production) now

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or hereafter known including without limitation the right to distribute the Film in all media now or hereafter known (theatrical, non-theatrical, all forms of television, home video, etc.)."⁷

The Original Rights Agreement reserved certain rights to Tarantino ("Reserved Rights"). Specifically, Tarantino's Reserved Rights include rights to the "soundtrack album, music publishing, live performance, print publication (including without limitation screenplay publication, 'making of' books, comic books and novelization, in audio and electronic formats as well, as applicable), interactive media, theatrical and television sequel and remake rights, and television series and spinoff rights."⁸

The complaint alleges that in November 2021, Tarantino announced plans to auction off seven "exclusive scenes" from Pulp Fiction in the form of NFTs.⁹ An NFT, or non-fungible token, is a unique, non-fungible digital asset recorded on a blockchain (a type of distributed ledger) that can represent and certify its owner's right to, and enable its owner to, access specific digital content associated with the NFT.¹⁰ The website offering the Pulp Fiction NFTs for sale touted that "[t]he collection holds secrets from Pulp Fiction," and "[e]ach NFT contains one or more previously unknown secrets of a specific iconic scene from Pulp Fiction."¹¹ The website subsequently advertised that the Pulp Fiction NFTs would include scans of some pages of the Pulp Fiction script and would also sell an "Artifacts Collection of up to ten iconic props from Tarantino's films," including one from Pulp Fiction.¹² In addition, the website used images and graphics from or relating to Pulp Fiction to promote the sale.¹³

Despite Miramax's demand that Tarantino cease offering for sale the Pulp Fiction NFTs, Tarantino refused to cede to Miramax's demands, asserting that the NFTs being offered for sale were within the ambit of the Reserved Rights that Tarantino had granted to Miramax.¹⁴ Tarantino's counsel asserted that because the Pulp Fiction NFTs contained unembellished scans of Tarantino's original handwritten Pulp Fiction screenplay, falls within the "print publication" portion of Tarantino's Reserved Rights.¹⁵ (In late January 2022, the first of the Pulp Fiction NFTs reportedly sold for $1.1 million.¹⁶)

Miramax has asserted claims for breach of contract, copyright infringement, and Lanham Act claims for trademark infringement and unfair competition.¹⁷

TARANTINO'S ANSWER

On December 9, 2021, Tarantino and Visiona Romantica, Inc. filed an answer to the complaint. The answer emphasized that "interactive media" in Tarantino's Reserved Rights was defined as "any interactive device or mechanism, such as a computer game based on the Film, which may include literary or character elements used in the Film but shall not be a substantial replication or viewing of the Film."¹⁸ In response to Miramax's allegation that the then-prospective sale of Pulp Fiction NFTs did not fall within the intended meaning of "print publication" or "screenplay publication" (which rights Tarantino...