Director Quentin Tarantino had announced that never-seen-before clips of the classic Pulp Fiction will be available as NFTs (non-fungible tokens). The film studio Miramax is now suing Tarantino over the release of the NFTs and it purportedly has plans to release it’s own NFT line related to the film.
Miramax mentioned in the lawsuit that the studio wants to “enforce, preserve, and protect its contractual and intellectual property rights relating to one of Miramax’s most iconic and valuable film properties,” Collider reported.
The lawsuit further stated, “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.”
Quentin Tarantino has “Reserved Rights” for his own screenplay, his lawyers said. The 1994 crime black comedy Pulp Fiction was written and directed by Tarantino. He had conceptualised the story with Roger Avary with many of the scenes referring to Avary’s work for the 1993 release True Romance.
Bart Williams, representing Miramax, said, “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."
Williams added, "This one-off effort devalues the NFT rights to Pulp Fiction, which Miramax intends to maximize through a strategic, comprehensive approach.”
Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction collectibles will be built on the blockchain Secret Network.
Secret Network revealed, in a statement, that the NFTs will come with commentary from Tarantino and “secrets about the film and the creator.” These assets will only be available to the person who purchases the NFTs.
NFTs transform digital collectibles into assets whose ownership is then stored on the blockchain, also facilitating their trade. The makers of the James Bond film No Time to Die had announced, in September, that they would launch NFT content related to the film.
(With inputs from Collider)
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