Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Jan 27, 2014 15:52:08 GMT -6
Quentin Tarantino is taking Gawker Media to court after the snarky website brazenly posted a link to The Hateful Eight, the first draft screenplay whose leak prompted Tarantino to say he would shelve the film. Tarantino has filed a formal legal complaint this morning in U.S. District Court, Central District Of California Western Division. The legal complaint charges Gawker with copyright infringement and contributory copyright infringement. Tarantino’s case will be led by hard-nosed litigator Martin Singer.
Here is the crux of the legal complaint obtained by CCG: “Gawker Media has made a business of predatory journalism, violating people’s right to make a buck. This time they’ve gone too far. Rather than merely publishing a news story reporting that Plaintiff’s screenplay may have been circulating in Hollywood without his permission, Gawker Media crossed the journalistic line by promoting itself to the public as the first source to read the entire screenplay illegally. Their headline boasts, ‘Here is the leaked Quentin Tarantino Hateful Eight Script’ — here, not someplace else, but ‘here’ on the Gawker website. The article then contains multiple direct links for downloading the entire screenplay through a conveniently anonymous URL by simply clicking button-links on the Gawker page, and brazenly encourages Gawker visitors to read the screenplay illegally with an invitation to ‘enjoy’ it. There was nothing newsworthy or journalistic about Gawker Media facilitating and encouraging the public’s violation of Plaintiff’s copyright in the screenplay, and its conduct will not shield Gawker Media from liability for their unlawful activity.”
The complaint alleges that Gawker declined to take down the post, or the URL that encouraged readers to download Tarantino’s screenplay.
This development happened after Tarantino told Deadline Hollywood exclusively that he was so frustrated to learn that someone among a handful of people to whom he gave the first draft script, leaked it. He had planned to write another project, and direct the two movies back to back. Instead, he said he would publish his Hateful Eight script, an ensemble Western, and revisit its movie prospects several years down the road. He said he will make that other project next.
In the legal complaint filed by his attorney, Tarantino maintains that Gawker solicited its readers to provide a copy of the script. Shortly after, the post in question appeared with an invitation to its readers to help themselves to the screenplay. I’ve not heard of a lawsuit quite like this one, but in this day and age when digital theft of copyrighted intellectual property is rampant, it will be an interesting scrape to follow, particularly if this becomes a full blown lawsuit. I’ll have more, soon.
In 2012, Gawker was asked by Lena Dunham’s attorney to take down a post that published Dunham’s 66-page book proposal that sold to Random House for $3.5 million. The site did so “on the recommendation from Gawker’s legal department.”
Here is the crux of the legal complaint obtained by CCG: “Gawker Media has made a business of predatory journalism, violating people’s right to make a buck. This time they’ve gone too far. Rather than merely publishing a news story reporting that Plaintiff’s screenplay may have been circulating in Hollywood without his permission, Gawker Media crossed the journalistic line by promoting itself to the public as the first source to read the entire screenplay illegally. Their headline boasts, ‘Here is the leaked Quentin Tarantino Hateful Eight Script’ — here, not someplace else, but ‘here’ on the Gawker website. The article then contains multiple direct links for downloading the entire screenplay through a conveniently anonymous URL by simply clicking button-links on the Gawker page, and brazenly encourages Gawker visitors to read the screenplay illegally with an invitation to ‘enjoy’ it. There was nothing newsworthy or journalistic about Gawker Media facilitating and encouraging the public’s violation of Plaintiff’s copyright in the screenplay, and its conduct will not shield Gawker Media from liability for their unlawful activity.”
The complaint alleges that Gawker declined to take down the post, or the URL that encouraged readers to download Tarantino’s screenplay.
This development happened after Tarantino told Deadline Hollywood exclusively that he was so frustrated to learn that someone among a handful of people to whom he gave the first draft script, leaked it. He had planned to write another project, and direct the two movies back to back. Instead, he said he would publish his Hateful Eight script, an ensemble Western, and revisit its movie prospects several years down the road. He said he will make that other project next.
In the legal complaint filed by his attorney, Tarantino maintains that Gawker solicited its readers to provide a copy of the script. Shortly after, the post in question appeared with an invitation to its readers to help themselves to the screenplay. I’ve not heard of a lawsuit quite like this one, but in this day and age when digital theft of copyrighted intellectual property is rampant, it will be an interesting scrape to follow, particularly if this becomes a full blown lawsuit. I’ll have more, soon.
In 2012, Gawker was asked by Lena Dunham’s attorney to take down a post that published Dunham’s 66-page book proposal that sold to Random House for $3.5 million. The site did so “on the recommendation from Gawker’s legal department.”