QUENTIN TARANTINO HAS opened legal proceedings against the news and gossip website Gawker over a post that directed readers to a leaked copy of the Oscar-winning screenwriter’s latest movie.
Tarantino’s lawsuit accuses Gawker Media LLC of copyright infringement for posting a link to the 146-page script for a planned film titled “The Hateful Eight” last week.
A link to the script was posted on Gawker’s Defamer blog and remained active on this evening, despite demands from Tarantino’s lawyers to take it down, the lawsuit states.
“There was nothing newsworthy or journalistic about Gawker Media facilitating and encouraging the public’s violation of (Tarantino’s) copyright in the Screenplay, and it’s conduct will not shield Gawker Media from liability for their unlawful activity,” the lawsuit states.
An email sent to Gawker seeking comment was not immediately returned.
Tarantino blasted the leak last week in an interview with Deadline.com and said he would abandon the project as a film. His lawsuit states he planned to publish the screenplay and that practice in the past has earned him hefty royalties and advances.
His lawsuit states his damages as a result of the Gawker post will be more than $1 million.
The leak of Tarantino’s script was initially limited to a few people, his lawsuit states, and “The Hateful Eight” script did not appear online until after Gawker posted an item encouraging anyone who had a copy to leak it to them.
Tarantino has won screenwriting two Academy Awards for his films “Pulp Fiction” and “Django Unchained.” He also received best director Oscar nominations for “Pulp Fiction” and “Inglourious Basterds.”
In October 2012, former wrestler and reality TV star Hulk Hogan sued Gawker after it posted a video of him having sex with the wife of his best friend. The site complied with a judge’s order in April to remove the video, but left a story and reader comments on its site.
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