The acclaimed filmmaker lands in hot water with Miramax after he shared plans to release The Tarantino NFT Collection that he worked on with officials at SCRT Labs and the Secret Network.

AceShowbiz –Quentin Tarantino is in legal hot water after announcing he’ll release seven NFTs (non-fungible tokens) based on his hit 1994 movie “Pulp Fiction”.

The filmmaker shared the news of The Tarantino NFT Collection earlier this month (November 2021), revealing the digital keepsakes would include scenes that never made it into the final cut of the classic, starring Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, and John Travolta.

Now bosses at the film’s distributor, Miramax, the studio founded by shamed producer Harvey Weinstein and his brother Bob, have reportedly sent Tarantino a cease-and-desist letter regarding the project.

“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,” legal papers obtained by The Hollywood Reporter read.

“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.”

Tarantino is working on the venture with officials at SCRT Labs and the Secret Network, with the NFTs reportedly featuring “secret” embedded content, visible only to purchasers.

Sources tell the outlet Tarantino’s original contract for “Pulp Fiction” awarded the co-writer and director some of the rights to the film, such as “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.”

Tarantino’s lawyer is fighting back, asserting his client is acting within his “Reserved Rights”, which include “screenplay publication.”

But in a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Miramax attorney Bart Williams writes, “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.”

“This one-off effort devalues the NFT rights to ‘Pulp Fiction’, which Miramax intends to maximize through a strategic, comprehensive approach. Miramax will defend all of its rights in regard to its library, including rights relating to NFTs, and will not allow Quentin’s representatives to deceive others into believing they have the authority to make similar deals in violation of the rights agreements they signed.”

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