How Quentin Tarantino’s Battle to Own ‘Pulp Fiction’ Exposed the Digital Rights Minefield

variety.com:

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. 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.