Quentin Tarantino Sues Gawker Over Hateful Eight Links

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Quentin Tarantino Sues Gawker Over Hateful Eight Links


Quentin Tarantino has filed a lawsuit against Gawker Media for publishing links to the leaked script of his now-shelved Western The Hateful Eight.

Quentin Tarantino was none too pleased [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/131564-Quentin-Tarantino-Halts-The-Hateful-Eight-Over-Script-Leak] when his first-draft script for The Hateful Eight, which he'd given to a half-dozen people to check out, leaked out to agents who began calling him to pitch their clients for roles. He was so upset that he put the whole thing on hold, not just because of the leak itself but because of what he felt was a betrayal. "I give it out to six people, and if I can't trust them to that degree, then I have no desire to make it," he said.

Now, however, the script has leaked beyond just agents and actors and is in the hands of the general public thanks to Gawker Media, which last week published links to the script in its entirety. Because of that, Tarantino has filed suit, claiming that it "crossed the journalistic line" by promoting itself as the go-to source of the script rather than just reporting on the leak.

"Gawker Media has made a business of predatory journalism, violating people's rights to make a buck. This time they went too far," the complaint states. "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 complaint claims that Tarantino believes the public at large would not have become aware of the leak or discovered the script were it not for Gawker's efforts. Furthermore, a Tarantino rep issued a DMCA infringement notice to Gawker demanding that the links be removed, but not only did Gawker "expressly refuse" to do so, it actually added a link to a second source of the script three days after the original post went up.

"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 in their unlawful activity," the lawsuit says.

Tarantino is seeking "actual damages and Defendants' profits in an amount exceeding $1,000,000 to be determined at trial," plus statutory and punitive damages, legal fees and an injunction against Gawker prohibiting it from continuing to link to or otherwise make use of the script "in violation of Plaintiff's copyright."

Source: Deadline [http://www.deadline.com/2014/01/quentin-tarantino-taking-gawker-to-court-after-subversive-website-invites-readers-to-download-his-hateful-eight-script/]


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lacktheknack

Je suis joined jewels.
Jan 19, 2009
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After the Rob Ford Cocaine Video "Let's Give Money To A Drug Dealer" debacle and general douchebaggery, I fully support Gawker getting the book throw at them so hard they can't stand.
 

RaikuFA

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Jun 12, 2009
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Let's hope this takes down what is the equal of tabloid journalism.

Just watch though, Jezebel will blame the whole suit on the Y chromosome while Kotaku will blame it on the japanese.
 

Scentedwiind

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Nov 13, 2009
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Some thing should be public knowledge in artistic works, the money maybe technical details or general production news but this goes too far and feels to me like the kind of inappropriate publications that "news sources" like tmz would put out.
 

SKBPinkie

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Oct 6, 2013
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I really hope that website dies because of this.

And no, I don't care for the people who make a living out of garbage like this. You've got decent writing skills (I think) - use them for something worthwhile.
 

scotth266

Wait when did I get a sub
Jan 10, 2009
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RaikuFA said:
Just watch though, Jezebel will blame the whole suit on the Y chromosome while Kotaku will blame it on the japanese.
Kotaku commenters might blame it on the Japanese, but Kotaku officially is sorta pro-Japan. This leads to a wacky state of affairs: Kotaku will post anime reviews or Japanese culture news and some commenters will flip their shit about "WTF Y U TALK ABOUT JAPAN, NBDY GIVES A FUCK."

Agreed with your ideas on Jezebel, though they'll cover it by instead posting about how "Tarantino is a man-child who makes sexist flicks."
 

Adam Jensen_v1legacy

I never asked for this
Sep 8, 2011
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I am pissed about the idea that maybe this movie will never be made. Another western from Tarantino would be so amazing.

Captcha: patience, child

Yes, master.
 

SonOfVoorhees

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Aug 3, 2011
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I read he only gave 3 people the script. Some gave it to their agents who sent it to other actors. You cant sue a site that got the script 3rd hand, he should sue one of those 3 people he gave it to who broke his trust. End of the day, Quentin is a great director, but all his movies are ripped off others that he watched and his dialogue sucks. I would really love for him to direct some one elses script, a horror movie or sci fi.
 

kajinking

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Aug 12, 2009
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Yeah this seems to a be going too far, report on the script leak don't publish the damn thing online (or link in this case). To me this is the equivilent of the Escapist reporting on a game being leaked half a year early and then linking the proper Pirate Bay torrent for the game below the story.
 

RaikuFA

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Jun 12, 2009
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scotth266 said:
RaikuFA said:
Just watch though, Jezebel will blame the whole suit on the Y chromosome while Kotaku will blame it on the japanese.
Kotaku commenters might blame it on the Japanese, but Kotaku officially is sorta pro-Japan. This leads to a wacky state of affairs: Kotaku will post anime reviews or Japanese culture news and some commenters will flip their shit about "WTF Y U TALK ABOUT JAPAN, NBDY GIVES A FUCK."

Agreed with your ideas on Jezebel, though they'll cover it by instead posting about how "Tarantino is a man-child who makes sexist flicks."
http://kotaku.com/5484581/japan-its-not-funny-anymore

I beg to differ. There was also the time that they called Rainfall a "bunch of whiny entitled crybabies who only want to play crappy games". Then there was when they insulted Senran Kagura and its fans during it's localization announcement. Or when they victim blamed bully victims during the Ocean Marketing fiasco(not japan related, but I bring it up when I say no one should read Kotaku).
 

Slash2x

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Dec 7, 2009
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Really? Really?
So using their logic... They should be able to host copies of games that get leaked out before release date. Because "we are just showing what was leaked." Fucking parasites. I hope he wins the damn company with his suit and it sets a precedent for suing the media.
 

Gorrath

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Feb 22, 2013
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SonOfVoorhees said:
I read he only gave 3 people the script. Some gave it to their agents who sent it to other actors. You cant sue a site that got the script 3rd hand, he should sue one of those 3 people he gave it to who broke his trust. End of the day, Quentin is a great director, but all his movies are ripped off others that he watched and his dialogue sucks. I would really love for him to direct some one elses script, a horror movie or sci fi.
The three people who handed it to their agents aren't making money off of the work. It does not matter if Gawker got it third hand or not, they are making money from publishing another person's work without their permission. Claiming they got it third hand is a meaningless defense.
 

scotth266

Wait when did I get a sub
Jan 10, 2009
5,202
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RaikuFA said:
scotth266 said:
RaikuFA said:
Just watch though, Jezebel will blame the whole suit on the Y chromosome while Kotaku will blame it on the japanese.
Kotaku commenters might blame it on the Japanese, but Kotaku officially is sorta pro-Japan. This leads to a wacky state of affairs: Kotaku will post anime reviews or Japanese culture news and some commenters will flip their shit about "WTF Y U TALK ABOUT JAPAN, NBDY GIVES A FUCK."

Agreed with your ideas on Jezebel, though they'll cover it by instead posting about how "Tarantino is a man-child who makes sexist flicks."
http://kotaku.com/5484581/japan-its-not-funny-anymore

I beg to differ. There was also the time that they called Rainfall a "bunch of whiny entitled crybabies who only want to play crappy games". Then there was when they insulted Senran Kagura and its fans during it's localization announcement. Or when they victim blamed bully victims during the Ocean Marketing fiasco(not japan related, but I bring it up when I say no one should read Kotaku).
That not-funny-anymore story appears to have been posted four years ago. Today, there's an anime review practically every week, so it seems that the site has moved in a more pro-Japan direction.

It's news to me that they didn't like Senran Kagura as they did like this. [http://kotaku.com/theres-a-great-game-behind-monster-monpieces-awkward-1508631030] Then again in that article the writer liked the core game but not the cheesecake on top of it.

Kotaku is still pretty bad regardless. I mostly go there for anime-related news stuff as they do pretty good "what's coming out this season" posts.
 

Crimsonmonkeywar

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Oct 27, 2013
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Ya....that's why any 'journalistic' site worth their salt doesn't post links to leaked movies or games. It's promotion. Your site profits from clicks, the click are offered due to your content. Ergo, you're making money from the actual, physical(this case digital) leak. It's sites like this that end up ruining things for other news sites. Imagine if he wins, now people are going to find every which way to milk sites for money with lawsuits and threats, and site are going to lock down even harder on what they show. If he losses, links and garbage on every page looking to be the first to post said content, we already get enough of that.

Leave this kind of stuff to the illegal off the grid(google) pirate sites in Russian with the shady codecs and 'magic' pill ads.
 

Chatboy 91

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Feb 25, 2011
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While I hate the vast majority of the Gawker websites, I still have a soft spot for a few of them. io9, Lifehacker, and Jalopnik are all great sites and I would be sad to see them go. The rest of their sites can burn in a fire for all I care though.

This story reminds me of when Jalopnik straight up said they <url=http://jalopnik.com/why-jalopnik-doesnt-do-product-embargoes-a-warning-to-1476491366>don't do product embargoes. At least they were upfront and honest about it though.
 

Windu23

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Aug 6, 2008
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This reminds me of that one time that Fox News reporter reviewed the unfinished Wolverine movie, I believe. And also talked about in detail how easy it was to obtain, even giving directions. Maybe Gawker is where he went after he was fired.
 

chikusho

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Jun 14, 2011
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Posting a link to something is not, and should not be illegal. From what I've seen, they are not hosting the script on their own site. Whether or not the article is in poor taste I can't really say, but his beef should be with the person who leaked it. Not gawker.
 

gibboss28

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Feb 2, 2008
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Good! Give 'em hell Quentin! Seriously I see nothing bad about this, I really do not like the Gawker Media Group, so it'll be nice to see them get a bit of a kick in the balls.
 

Aiddon_v1legacy

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Nov 19, 2009
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Ah Gawker, a media group that is one giant cesspool for smug, boring assholes to act like children and yet trying to pass themselves off as "edgy" journalists. Did you SEE their "defense" post? It read like an insufferable Livejournal entry by some butthurt teenager. Can't exactly make myself sympathetic towards them