How Quentin Tarantino’s Battle to Own ‘Pulp Fiction’ Exposed the Digital Rights Minefield
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When Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction” hit the multiplexes in 1994, few could predict the effects the kinetic, darkly comedic adventure would have on the film business. More than a quarter-century later, the movie many consider to be the director’s signature work has influenced Hollywood again — in ways no one could have foretold.
Last year, the filmmaker made plans to release NFTs based on the picture, and was sued for doing so by Miramax, the studio that released “Pulp Fiction.” Tarantino owns the copyright to the screenplay for the movie, but the studio, which owns the copyright to the movie, believes its claims extend to technology that wasn’t even created in the era when John Travolta turned heads by dancing with Uma Thurman in one of the film’s most memorable scenes. The lawsuit over this case is wending its way through federal court in Los Angeles.
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The industry should get used to that kind of off-screen drama in the future.
“We have a new technology. We spend a lot of time exploring and really trying to figure out whether our clients have those rights to exploitation with new technologies,” says Amy Siegel, a partner and co-head of the entertainment, sports and media industry group at O’Melveny & Myers, which is not involved in the case, and which Siegel did not discuss. She adds: “I don’t think there’s a normal yet.”
The advent of interactive digital technology is reworking the dynamics of the entertainment business — and raising a lot of questions about who will be allowed to benefit. The rise of NFTs, cryptocurrencies and other Web3 technologies is giving talent and content creators new opportunities to interact with fans, which open entirely new frontiers: Could fans use the intellectual property contained on NFTs to create their own content and ideas? Will artists start to sell their own videos, music and even long-form work directly to their followers?
“The global nature of the metaverse makes policing the metaverse for infringement of copyrighted, trademarked and patented works challenging,” says Gary P. Kohn, an entertainment and corporate attorney who specializes in NFT and metaverse transactions.
If it sounds complex and more than a little unwieldy, well — many agree. “What you own is bragging rights,” says Schuyler Moore, an attorney at Greenberg Glusker who focuses on corporate law and film financing. He likens the furor over these new properties to the frenzy around tulip bulbs in Holland in the 1600s and adds, “If you want to do anything practical, you are going to have to go on YouTube or Facebook, and it’s going to be controlled by bigger companies.”
Hollywood is already at work. CAA recently named a chief metaverse officer, Joanna Popper, an executive who has worked for traditional media companies like NBCUniversal as well as HP, where she supervised the launch of technology such as a headset for virtual reality use. She expects this new world to grow exponentially more crowded. NFTs might be used today for fundraising, to establish new kinds of intellectual property or for connecting with audiences. Soon, says Popper, the tech will be used for rights management, minimizing piracy and tracking consumer usage.
“We know that there’s a search for inspiration and creativity and storytelling that extends into newspapers, books and other source material,” she says. “Now it’s going to this new area where it starts with the creativity of the art, but there’s a broader level of storyline attached to it, as well as a built-in community [that wants] these projects to succeed.”
Consider the case of Jenkins the Valet. He’s a digital character that is the work of Tally Labs, a company that creates intellectual property designed for the metaverse. The character writes stories and commentary about his encounters in the metaverse and has even released his own NFTs that give holders a chance to vote on how his stories should proceed, among other things. And yes, Jenkins is represented by CAA.
As Web3 tech slowly becomes mainstream, there’s significant opportunity for misunderstanding and conflict, Kohn warns.
“From a legal standpoint, a common misconception is that the buyer of an NFT purchases the NFT as well as the copyright in that NFT. Ownership of an NFT does not mean ownership of the copyright to the digital asset the token represents,” says Kohn. “If, for example, a photograph of a celebrity will be used as the basis for the digital asset, it may be the case that the photographer and not the celebrity owns the copyright and all accompanying rights to that photograph.”
The scrum around NFTs and blockchain mirrors the chase to keep the attention of younger consumers. As more of those consumers dive into virtual worlds, there are sure to be new legal wrangles over the fine print that governs who owns what. Will Pao, a partner at O’Melveny & Myers and chair of the firm’s fintech group, says simply that the dealmaking environment right now “has just been wild.”
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